markathbauer

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Day 6

Day 6 Mexican stand off Up early, we have a lot to accomplish. Sailed back to the mainland and a good day of paddling. Out around light houses, yes they have them way over here as well, and along the coast to a lovely beach for swimming. Even thermophobic (I think I made that one up) I must admit it was a great swim and the water is so warm. Much warmer than Crete last year. Oh and even I can float here! A couple of hours in the kayak and the sea salt bath were all it took to heal my aching back side. All packed up, and boy do I use that term loosely, using every plastic bag and dirty shirt we can find and we all stuff into a later model VW van. Have you ever wondered where all the used VW vans go. After they have been recycled from the US through Mexico, really, where do they go. Well at least one got to Croatia. Hardly a plastic part in one piece. I fixed 2 door handles on the trip. Bill, remember the oil light in Cabo that flashed the entire time we were there. Well, they have that same feature over here. Dropped Carl, Peg, Chris, Amy and Jack off at Zatun Bay where they will stay the last night and off to Dubrovnik. Adventure not over however. Almost became a speck on the windshield of a huge tourist bus as we pulled onto the main highway. Not sure I am looking forward to the next week of driving north. Into Dubrovnik to be dropped off. Now there are thousands of tourists in Dubrovnik and most of them get dropped off outside the city so you would think they would have an easy place to accomplish this task. We wind through back alleys outside the city walls complete with not one but 2 Mexican standoffs. Our driver seems to be pretty good at those. He then stops in the middle of an alley. We seize the chance and make a run for it, plastic bags waving in the wind, as he is having a full throated nose-to-nose discussion with a taxi driver about who is going to back up. I am so not looking forward to driving next week. For those who are concerned, Kathie’s eye is starting to look a little better. Only had double vision for the first day and the headache is almost gone. Got back too late to find out about the rabies test on the cat. Maybe can find out before we leave tomorrow. Through the Pele gate and into the Old Town of Dubrovnik complete with wide main street polished by the feet of thousands of tourists before us, and back to our home away from home, 19a, and the first shower in 5 days. AHHHH Up for recommended Asian-Croatian fusion at Azur which was all it was said to be, especially Kathie’s spicy seared tuna and Sarah’s curry. Not a dry eye or a stuffy nose here. Back out on the streets to enjoy a few street performers and of course evening would not be complete without a trip to our favorite gelato stand. Boy I love that stuff. Let me see. Hang up all the wet clothes, clean out the luggage, no scorpions here, and get a good night sleep. Nice the boat is still rocking under us at least in our minds (or ears). One last hill tomorrow, the old wall around Dubrovnik. Have to get at it early to beat all of those tour busses. My beard is starting to itch!

Day 5

Day 5 Kram Reuab lives It seems the rumors of my being fired have been greatly exaggerated. Others have said I was responsible for using up all the internet data on the boat and shutting down the system. Can’t see how downloading the entire Seahawks game could have done that, can you? However others now have the address of this little story so may have to change the names a little to make it HIPPA compliant or something like that. I left you with the drama of Carl and Peg. Boy are they resourceful. Seems they just put on their walking shoes, well they already had them on actually, and walked across the peninsula to the next town and when we came around the corner, there they were. Actually beat us there. Off we went again to. Mljet Island is our next to last day and will be a multisport adventure day. Biking, swimming and last but not least eating. Good thing we got the big hills out of the way yesterday. Off the boat, turn right and straight up 8 degrees for half a mile. Actually seems you can walk or ride in first gear at about the same speed. Rewarded by a long gentle downhill that leads into National Sea Coast Park. Great pine forest surrounding a series of seawater lakes with lovely swimming areas and the small town of Soline where we had lunch. We took a very short water taxi ride across the lake while others biked around. Hoped we could take another water taxi to the monastery out in the middle but it seems they were closed. Oh well a swim then and we are refreshed for the back side (and I am starting to use that phrase very gently) of the hill. Seems what comes down must go up. 30 km of biking (or walking up hills for some of that) is a good day.

Could not have enjoyed our visit to the park more. We tend to think the US must be the only place where the natural beauty of lakes and forest have been enhanced and protected for all to enjoy. Well here is a news flash. Croatia has figured it out too. Where we are closing trails and cutting back on the National Park Service amazing places like this are thriving. I am up for spaghetti tonight, my favorite pre and post race meal of spaghetti carbonara, and our work is done on Mljet.

Day 4

Day 4 Black is the new white Woke to the news the Seahawks are not as good as we all thought. Well that takes the pressure off an undefeated season. Today is to be an all skate. Bike, hike, swim, eat, sail. All got interrupted with too much sun. The bike starts with about a 1k straight up bike ride with 6-15% grade which was not too bad until the bus wanted the same half of the road in addition to its own half. Situation made worse since there was only half a road to start with. The effort was rewarded with a tour of an old church abbey built in 1500 where you could see both sides of the island of Sipan and from the roof you can keep watch for any invaders. Ring the bells and all the islands inhabitants come up and live in the church. After lunch and swim off to the town of Ston by boat with a great swim on the way. Kathie got up on the paddleboard and I even did a little yoga on the board. “Little’’ and “on” would be the definitive words but Kathie told me it was a nice try and that made my pulled groin feel better. Motored off up the coast to the small town of Ston, noted for its wall over the city to protect the evaporation ponds where they make famous sea salt. Jake, they run a marathon on the wall in a week. Check it out on the net. Nice hour to roam before dinner. All day without wine has led to a very bad decision. We made the decision that a town famous for it’s wall and sea salt would have equally good local wine. Not so much. Two out of three is not bad. The tasting room looked inviting and the white was “OK.” So off to the red. The bouquet? Turpentine? The taste? Wow, Sarah had to turn away from the counter to hide the twisted face. But we are not sure what to do with the color. It seems the famous taste of Ston includes not only the flavor it imparts to the salt and wine but there is a problem with the acid effect on new dental inlays. So much for the new crown material done last fall. Black seems to be the new white. When I smile. Ouch. Remember the Bond villain with the steel grin. 24 hours now without any improvement. Sure hope Chris Merchant DDS has some magic up his sleeve. If you see any photos and I am not smiling you will know why. Reading Rick Steves later he says you should sample a few local wines here. That would be one he missed. Slept through the night. It is so easy on the rocking boat. May have slept too much. More on that later. Motoring and breakfast to the Isle of Mljet where there are caves that Ulysses reportedly slept in. I think it is sort of like George Washington slept here. We will see. Have not seen a Cyclops yet. Oops, we have been underway for about one hour. Having a great breakfast and wondering if there is enough prosciutto for the couple from Boston. Figured they must just be “sleeping in”, or! Seems they may have gotten up early and gone for a stroll. Meanwhile we all got up, dressed, had Turkish coffee and shoved off, sans Carl and Peg. Can only imagine their surprise as they gazed at the picturesque view of the town and harbor from the top of the wall only to watch the boat push off and motor over the horizon. The Internet and iPhone are amazing. Found them. Taxi and ferry ride later and we will be reunited. Nika, the guide just brought out wine and beer to celebrate. All is well. Off to find a Cyclops. Sarah crawls thru our cabin and into her berth.

Oh my, Oh my. Have to sign off here. Sarah is downloading her photos to our computer on Air Drop and…OH MY. OH…MY! Those are personal files Sarah. STOP THE DOWNLOAD! OH MY. Hope I can keep this from getting back to the Sisters of Providence

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Day 3 - Put to Sea

Day 3 Put to sea

Our home away from home for the next 4 days. We have the triple cabin in the forward starboard hull. Well, actually a nice double with a single bunk in front that you get to if you channel your inner chipmunk. Can’t have one shred of claustrophobia to live up there. Hope you worked on your yoga Sarah. To get in and out you either crawl over us in our bunk and through a hidden trap door or if you want to maintain peace you shimmy up through the Plexiglas hatch cover onto the deck. Sarah, you are a true good sport. Hope it is not cold tonight and you get your wish to sleep on the net between the hulls on the bow. Really lazy day. Up and out of 19a to meet with the rest of our group. Retired Boston real estate developer, his psychotherapist wife and their retired 3rd grade teacher-traveling companion. How about this for a small world? His name is Carl and he is Carl Lindgren’s cousin. A retired government employee and his younger partner from Juno Alaska round out the passengers along with Sarah and of course Kathie and me. For your interest Bill it is a Nautitech 44.2, 44ft catamaran. North out of Dubrovnik to Kolocep Island where we had a two hour lunch followed by a much needed long walk across the island and a short 45 minute kayak. Well, kayak trip is sort of stretching it. More like paddling a concrete tub up stream. I am so spoiled by my white carbon-light Eddyline rocket. Oh well it got us out on the water. Walk back across island, and back aboard for a short one hour Sunset cruise to the island of Sipan where we will have an amazing two-hour dinner and dock for the night. If I can recall, wine, smoked salmon Carpaccio, skate appetizer drizzled with balsamic vinegar, octopus cakes (sort of like crab cakes but with octopus), and seafood risotto. Not bad☺. Vinnie and Sophia waddle back to the boat and Sarah channels her very best Alice and pops down the in deck rabbit hole to her bunk for the night. We rock to sleep dreamming of swimming hiking, biking, oh and of course eating tomorrow. Oh, almost forgot, for those of you who are concerned about Kathie, or as we like to refer to her as, Sophia, the one eyed sailor. So far she is doing just fine. Bill, thanks for all your advice. It was a good thing it was not her good eye. Looks sort of funny because they only had a right eye patch and she looks sort of funny wearing it on the left. Keeps falling off when she brushes her teeth. And she keeps bumping into things. What’s with that? Had to be careful eating gelato standing on her left. And for those of you concerned about the cat, it had to be euthanized. They are having it tested for rabies and we will hear about the results when we get back to Dubrovnik later this week.

Day 2 fantasy cat action Gatto's revenge -

Day 2 See-Saw Day Gatto’s revenge Wow, the apartment we call 19a is right in the center of old town and amazingly dark so we all got a great long first night sleep. Rallied though and made our selves go to the recommended coffee shop for crepes over vanilla ice cream and smothered in fresh fruit. Follow this with a latte and we are off to a great day. Of course how fast can you move after such a breakfast so we decided to stroll. Tourist ship has not belched 10,000 passengers yet so we sort of have the old town to ourselves as it wakes up. Unfortunately the sunny Mediterranean climate has not arrived yet and we do much of our walking in the rain. Back to get coats and purchase of the smallest umbrella in Croatia and we are off again. In one of our attempts to avoid the rain we decide we might be able to stay dry for an extended period of time if we combine food and wine at the same time. After several attempts to sit we finally get a table at what turns out to be a great Bosnian restaurant. Wine, some sort of sausage, salad, and baclava later and we have been revitalized. We are refreshed, we seem to have beaten jet lag and the sun is starting to come out. We had decided to put off the walk around the wall until our return from the kayak trip but feeling so good after lunch we decide to go for it. So up the hill we go to the top of the town to get the tough part of the wall out of the way first. Little did we know the expedition we were about to undertake.

There are lots of cats in Dubrovnik. If you are a cat lover like Sarah then you spend a lot of your time working on the purrfect, pardon the pun, photo to send back to the neighbors who are cat sitting for her. I got to the top of the stairs above 19a first and there was a lone cat sitting on the stonewall. Photo of cat with stairs and town below framing Kathie and Sarah climbing up the stairs seemed purrfect. There I go again, sorry, couldn’t resist. I guess the click of the camera shutter startled the feral cat because he leapt off the wall directly onto Kathie. The nurse at the small emergency clinic said I was probably not to blame but I still feel terrible. The superficial scratches and any concern about cat scratch fever and ring worm we actually have covered with our medical kit we have with us, diflucan, mupurricin (there I go again I just can’t seem to resist) and cipro. However all are much more concerned about the corneal laceration. Fortunately not a grade 3, whatever that means. I guess that is not completely thru but bad enough that they wanted us to go to the specialty ophthalmology hospital in Reuab about 50 kilometers down the coast. Recall I said the rain had washed out the road from the airport and sure enough that is the same road. So what should have been a 30 min cab ride became a 2 ½ hour thrill ride. Of course we did not prepare for that winding trip along the rouged coastline cow path/highway and Kathie’s codeine wore off long before we got there. Lucky thing. The only ophthalmologist in central Croatia happened to be at the clinic. Of course it is a national holiday and they are off at a convention or something.. No stiches. Believe it or not, just superglue, an eye patch, a big bottle of codeine, and she should be OK in a week or so. They don’t want her to do any snorkeling and she is supposed to avoid alcohol but they didn’t think going on the boat was contraindicated so we should be able to go on the catamaran tomorrow. Back in Dubrovnik in 30 minutes this time. Kathie’s eye and the road are fixed and the sun scheduled to come out tomorrow. Nice dinner of risotto and fresh sea bass with citrus and capers. Kathie can’t have the wine but according to Sarah her part of the bottle was excellent. All in all it was an up and down day. Look on the bright side, even if only with one eye. We found some very loud and obnoxious scraping toys for the grandkids at the market, we ate well and if the weather improves as they say it is supposed to we get to go on a sailboat trip tomorrow. Miss you all. Kathie says hi and she will see you in two weeks. Sorry couldn’t resist.

Day 1 Croatia

Day 1, Thursday-Friday Sept. 11

Up early. I have been in trouble for the last 2 weeks because I have not packed. Kathie just has not seen that I have been putting those things that would be needed on the spare bed so the actual putting of underwear into the suitcase was just a formality. Anyway, up at usual 4:30-5 am so had plenty of time to get in a good workout and watch the news before even the dogs stirred. We must have been better about hiding the trip from them this time because they haven’t been moping around as much as they usually do when they smell a trip is up. Leaving at 1 in the afternoon is a good deal. Gave me time to get that packing thing done with time to spare. Drive to the airport easy without traffic. Nice long lunch at the Anthony’s. I sort of like this new having to get to the airport so early. Allows for a little more down time before the flight. We were so smart 6 months ago. We went in and signed up for the GO system. We would no longer have to take off our shoes and be humiliated if there was a hole in our sock. We would no longer have to take our old fat heavy computer out of its backpack. We figured this card would solve it all. We strolled past all those long lines to the already approved line and presented our freshly minted plastic TSA issued Go cards to the agent who very nicely said, so what. However he must have taken pity on the two old farts because he still let us go by. Computer still had to come out and luckily I had my good socks on. We have a little more to figure out about the Go card thing. Good flight. Or as well as 9 hours spent sitting 12 inches from a 10 inch TV screen can go. Lufthansa is a great way to fly. Hours of programming and the food and wine all lull you into the vacation mood much faster. In fact, I have a little confession to make. I took several Derm journals along and even got them out of the carry on with the intention of knocking off one of them on the flight over. I must admit, however, I binged on the entire 4th season of The Big Bang Theory instead, while Kathie watched “The Other Woman” and “Maleficent.” She has not commented on those. Watched a great special on BB King, watched the highlights of the 2014 World Cup, marveled at how stupid some people can be flying in a nylon flying suit at 140 mph, and before you can say pityriasis lichenoides et varioliformis acutta, we were landing in Frankfort. Didn’t have to wait long before finding Sarah Lux. Found her about 10 people ahead of us in the customs line. Another hurry up and wait thing. 6 hour layover before flight to Dubrovnik. Oops. What happened to the 75 and sunny we left in Olympia. 75 still there but it has rained so had in Dubrovnik that some walls have fallen and blocked the road from the airport to town. Oh well Huck Finn finally finds us and the other members of our traveling group and we are off . How crazy, one couple is from Boston and the guy is the cousin of one of the pediatricians is Oly. They let us off at the gates to the old city with a cryptic treasure map to find our “room”. Down 4 long flights of wet stone steps into the old town. Hey, a few other tourists have discovered Dubrovnik since we were here last in the summer of 73. Oh well, a quick visit to the cash machine for some Kuna and with Kathie and Sarah’s good sense of directions we find 19a. 2 ½ single beds and a bathroom. Home away from home for the next 2 days. Now for what we find we have all been waiting for for the last 3 months. A nice glass of wine in a quite little back street Croatian restaurant. Kathie got her marinated anchovies and all is right with the world. Sarah likes them as well and we have created another monster. A lovely stroll home to 19a is complete with lemon, cherry, and chocolate gelato. So 2 ½ days and half a world away I am lying in bed in the dark with my computer drifting into peaceful vacation mode. We have all had a good night sleep and we didn’t need to use the bag of pink earplugs Sarah brought. Or at least I didn’t. I am going to sneak out to find Dolce Vita, the gelato shop that also seems to make a great crepe. I wonder if I can get it filled with Fruit of de Bosco this time? The wall around the old town will be our workout today. The rain is scheduled to stop tomorrow. Now, if I can just find a Starbucks. I wonder if there is an app for that? Thanks, or as the Croatians say Hvalla (sounds like walla to me) to all who are holding down the fort for us. Giving a shout out to the Ducks today and the Seahawks tomorrow.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Bauer' Happy Holiday letter!

Dear friends, We hope you have had a wonderful and successful 2013, and wish you another for 2014. As usual, we have had a typically crazy fun Bauer year, especially so in our new house...though it is becoming less a novelty after a full year! We worked hard through the year on our yard and are almost done...Spring 2014 will see the last of the plants in. Terraces are done, plants are mostly in, grass is growing, we think. It is truly a fun project and beautiful place to be. Sitting at the waterfront each summer evening with a glass of wine has become a habit we can't seem to break! In addition to the yard, we were able to kayak 3-4 times a week for close to 6 months (Mark almost daily), which put us in great shape for some of our travels this year. We now have 4 sit-in kayaks, 1 visiting double sit-in, and two sit-upons which the grand and other kids love...oh...and we have a stand up paddle board also - which I seem to stay upright on as long as I don't actually try to stand up. It is disgusting how the younger crowd manages it with no effort at all!

We are really having fun sharing our house. Three parties so far this Christmas wasn't even hard work, and several small garden parties this summer with croquet, badminton, pickle ball, ladder golf, Baggo, and toad (don't ask), etc. The most fun was an event we hosted for the symphony where their string quartet played on our deck/porch and we set up long Italian style tables in the yard for a catered Italian feast. The music wafted over Eld inlet and neighbors came out on their nearby bulkheads to listen. It could be heard the 3/4 mile across the inlet as the yard creates kind of a natural amphitheatre; we have heard many people enjoyed it from a distance. We will be doing this again! Very surreal to be living here...we do love it and love to share so COME VISIT!!

Liesl and Nate

Liesl and Nate - Liesl and Nate underwent a big change this year. The commute from DuPont to Seattle for Nate became nearly 2+ hours each way on a regular basis as a result of Ft Lewis military base enlargement. They decided to make the commute a bit easier and move to Puyallup where Nate could drive 5 minutes to hop the commuter 40 minute train to Seattle...it shortens Nate's trip by at least an hour each way and he can work (or sleep) on the train. Liesl has maintained her 2 days a week in her office here, and has joined the board for her practice. Both Cooper (4) and Grace ( 2 1/2) are in daycare/preschool those two days and thriving. Liesl Is able to drop them off and Nate picks them up. Their house is lovely and nearly twice as big as their old one, which was getting small with two busy kids and two big dogs. The family

Coop's glee at his first ride in our motor boat

Climbing Fool

Nothing Like July 4th in Gearhart

Playing in our yard

Jake and Kim

Jake and Kim - We spent a lovely spring break in Peoria with Kim, Jake, Kale and Mason this year. We got to celebrate Kim's, Mason's and my birthday at Mariner's spring training. Trips to the batting cages, running the bases on the real field and seeing the players up close made for quite the trip for all. In other activities this year, Jake trained for and ran numerous races and triathlons, finishing with an ironman triathlon at Lake Tahoe near the end of September. It looked really cold!!! (and it was) He did a great job! We were really proud of him and watched the streaming live finish and other parts of the race to catch glimpses of him with Kim on the sidelines! Technology is amazing. This may be the last big race he does for a while as he and Kim are due with a little girl in January! Eight gkids (always a lucky number for us!) Their lives will be a bit more difficult with three. They will now be zone defense rather than man to man! Mason (6) and Kale (4) are both in Montessori school and leave us speechless with their activities and observations.

The Family

Kale

Mason

You are Ironman!

That's a big baseball! Spring Training for juniors

Batting cages for Mason's birthday!

Two happy healthy gorgeous people!

Ian and Candace

Ian and Candace - Their lives underwent a big change this year as Ian left the Attorney General's office this fall and joined a firm in Seattle. The firm handles large "worthy" plaintiff lawsuits. As a result, though, Candace is leaving our firm as of the end of the year; it is hard to see her go as my "easy" retirement goes with her and I will miss our chats at work. She is losing a big part of her identity and the move will be hard in some ways; she may be back to law once the kids are older, or direct her legal and many other talents in other directions. Ian and Candace are also moving north to avoid the Ft Lewis horror and make the commute better for Ian. Surprise, surprise, they bought a house about 3 blocks from Liesl and Nate in Puyallup and the kids will all go to the same grade school! Aidan (almost 7), Donovan (5 ½), and Aiyana (almost 3) are all full of energy and smile and leave us wondering how we ever managed three also!

Two more pictures of Candace and the kids and the kids at the new lot, sans house!

Kayaking fools…hiking? not so much

Mark and I have gotten back into the grind of work in order to afford our travel fetish. After spending all our time on the new house in 2012, we managed to get away a bit more this year. Kayaking at home led us to think we could manage a bit more difficult kayak trips. We started in Santa Barbara in June and kayaked around a number of the Channel Islands off shore. We stayed on a small boat, sleeping on berths in the hold with 10 other people. The boat took us from island to island in the rough sea. There were small craft advisories the whole time, wind, and lots of waves and "haystacks" created by waves hitting the cliffs and coming back to meet incoming waves. Think skiing moguls but in a boat. It was a TON of fun, weaving along the coast and into and out of cool caves (think low ceiling, helmets ... and bats); we never dumped in the rough water. We were very proud of ourselves! When we came home, there was an "adventure" advertised on a website we visit often --"come kayak and hike the south coast of Crete!." Gee, we’re awesome, we can do this! So we signed up for 8 days in October of kayaking the Libyan Sea and hiking cliffs. The trip was on a part of the coast roads don't reach - the only way in is by boat or foot. We stayed in small inns in tiny villages. It was very cultured kayaking. We would take off in the morning for an hour or two, stop at a small taverna for cappuccino and snorkeling, with 300 or so goats, then move another hour or two to find lunch in a similar place, then another hour or so to dinner (think raki) and lodging for the night. Only one day of waves with a following sea that basically let us surf to our next destination. We paddled through caves, into long narrow fjords, partied nightly and, tried to hike. I found that going downhill for 12 miles - the first three straight down, was no longer in my resume - or itinerary? My left leg gave out and would not support me after about a mile. I hobbled on one leg and two hiking polls back to the top and got a ride to a village 2 hours away where I could catch a boat to our inn at the base of the long Samaria Gorge hike. I showed up about an hour earlier than Mark. He was exhausted so it was a very good thing I didn't try to do the remaining 11 1/2 miles down. We were the oldest in our group of 6 (plus 3 guides), the best kayakers, and the worst hikers! We opted out of the other hikes and spent our time in the boats practicing rolls and rescues. I am wondering about our next kayak (no hiking) trip...gotta get these in while we still can! We finished off the trip with some days in Heraklion, Chania (wine glasses) and Athens. Greece has improved greatly in the 40 years since we were last there! They had greenery, more than grilled goat on the menu, and very fun times. Jamas! Wine glasses in Chania sunset