From the Fertile Farmlands of Ventura County to the Rugged Coasts of Maui

Sunday-Friday, May 2-7, 2021

We had quite the week. It all started with our granddaughter Mary's Daisy Scouts field trip to the Underwood Farm in Moorpark, California in order to get closer to the Earth.

We joined Jacob and Vanessa

on Sunday for Mary's field trip

The Daisy Scouts were READY!

Mary about to drive . . .

. . . this sporty wagon

Laurie just had to

COWGIRL UP!

Jacob on the hunt for the perfect

strawberry to pick

Mary and her friend found

lots of perfect strawberries

Jacob about to venture

into the "Fava Bean Forest"

At Mary's height, she could

easily get lost in the intriguing

"Fava Bean Forest"

Pulling carrots was a hit

The Underwoods also keep

interesting animals for the

children to ponder

Jacob was amazed by the cattle

Crazy kids riding mini-tractors

Of course you can pan

for precious stones

For a nominal, additional fee of course . . .

The kids joy in panning

was worth the coast

After our great field trip, we spent the next few days packing and going through a series of Covid-19 related hoops in order to satisfy the state of Hawaii's Health Department that we had a clean bill of health, had been fully vaccinated and should be allowed on to one of their gorgeous islands.

Finally, on Tuesday, we were off to . . .

. . . MAUI!

Of course, I still needed to break 

down some practice video from

Barcelona on the deck of the condo

The condo belongs to our hosts, Mark and Susie Johnson, who invited us to join them in Paradise.

Their daughter Mallory and her friend Sarah are with us too as they attend their final classes at the University of Washington on-line before graduating at the end of the month.

As is the norm, eating is a big part of any Johnson-Contreras expedition into the hinterlands.

Incredible banana pancakes that

were indeed world class

Malasadas were the call here

Creme filled Hawaiian health food we were led to believe.

Wilt Chamberlain's Kimono

"Rich Dead People Things For Sale"?

Hawaii has lots of interesting flora as it turns out. 

Liked the red/yellow combination

Suddenly we were in a church cemetery

in the middle of this mini-forest

An old tree stump

More yellow goodness

Arbor vines that are

still waiting to bloom

Delicate

Perhaps even more delicate

The lava fields at the base of

the Mount Haleakala volcano

It's dormant, right?

Mysterious pathway into . . .

. . . Makena Beach

I just liked it

Overcast, beautiful Makena Beach

Yes, we were HAPPY!

With the Johnsons as Sarah

took the photo

With Sarah as Mark took the photo

Dinner with my newest

UW Huskies face mask

Lots of strangers had positive comments about it. 

Mark and I are doing LOTS

of walking in the early mornings

And we all continue

to enjoy the local cuisine

Friday was Laurie's

29th birthday

Again.

Here she flashes her birthday present bling for you during lunch at Lahaina's Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Food. It always comes back to food.

The waters in Lahaina

Lahaina rock sculptures

The famed Lahaina

Banyan tree

Nature's intricate lacework

Our first view of Kapalua's

Dragon's Teeth Beach

Amazing, simply AMAZING!

DO NOT GO SWIMMING

in this part of the Dragon's Teeth

Nature is really something

Note the size of the couple on

the left of that crashing wave

Rugged but still serene

It's been a good week!

On to "News from the Net" . . .

The Milano Rhinos and the

Lazio Ducks were in a defensive

struggle last weekend in

Italian DI American football action

Our beloved Guadalajara Stings

wrapped up a perfect regular season

The 6-0 Stings will host the 6-1 Barcelona Uroloki on May 22nd for the Spanish Serie C National Championship.

The Stings have come a LONG way since I helped them in the Fall of 2016.

Go Stings GO!

What the heck is a Uroloki?

 

And at 73, it is even WORSE!

If this is true,

WE WANT TO GO BACK!

I know that BBQ smile quite well

Classic

We will continue to update you on our Maui adventures in the next few days.

ALOHA!

Last Game of the 2021 Spring High School Football Season in Southern California

Wed. - Sat., April 28 - May 1, 2021 

This was the final weekend of games in this unique spring experiment of playing high school football because of the pandemic.

I was joined by son Micheal as we opted to join our friends Paul and Joanne Sabolic to watch their son Jason's game on Friday night.

Jason is the first year Head Coach of the El Camino Real H.S. program who was burdened with both getting the job at the last minute and dealing with all of the pandemic's issues. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers

were 3-0 coming into the game

The El Camino Real Conquistadors

were 0-5 at Kickoff time

GRUMPY OLD MEN?

With Paul for the mandatory

pre-game meal, this time at

Maria's Kitchen about a mile from

the El Camino Real campus

Not in the photo were our dinner mates Michael, Joanne and the Sabolic's daughter Nicole and her husband Nick.

We had a lot of lively, friendly bantering to accompany our fine Italian meal.

My lasagna was first rate!

On to the game . . .

It was my first ever visit to

El Camino Real's nice stadium

Cleveland on Offense in white

We had seen El Camino Real, a.k.a., Elco, play in their first game at Agoura H.S. back in mid-March and, frankly, they looked terrible.

One of the things I try to evaluate in watching teams is their improvement. In the final analysis, that is really what coaching is all about, making the team get a little better day-by-day.

The Elco program is in need of beefier players and an infusion of team speed beyond a doubt but I did see some positives for their program.

In that long ago Agoura game, the Conquistadors were overwhelmed quickly and showed few signs of life in absorbing a 56-6 loss.

Last night Elco showed us some good things.

First, instead of giving up quick and easy scores early on, they made the Cavaliers move methodically and slowly in gaining a First Quarter lead of only 6-0.

Elco continued to play tough in getting some big yardage plays out of their TE receiving the ball and one of their running backs getting to the edge of the Cleveland defense.

Cleveland did pop a one play TD scoring "drive" just before Halftime,. A 35 yard run, for a 13-0 Cavalier lead at the intermission.

The Third Quarter was all Cleveland's as they scored 20 unanswered points to lead 33-0.

Both teams subbed heavily in the Fourth Quarter as Cleveland put another nine points on the scoreboard to win by a final tally of 42-0.

Granted, the final score was not good for Elco but I still felt that they had fought hard throughout against a better team.

Hopefully for the Conquistadors, a Summer of 7-on-7, agility drills, conditioning and lots of sweat in the weight room will create better outcomes in the Fall.

News from the net . . .

Italy at night from space

I miss our friends and the Italian lifestyle daily.

So TRUE!

As further proof, I was watching and old mystery movie that was set in New York City and involved foreign intrigue.

The hero and his assistant/love interest needed to find a suspect labeled only as a "European."

The love interest said she had no idea how to find him.

Our hero responded, "You look for an American at places of work, you find a European at dining spots."

Agreed.

Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers

 

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Thanks to good friend and avid blog follower Paul Sabolic, it was finally . . . 

"TIME FOR DODGER BASEBALL!"

Paul is a Dodger season ticket holder and was not be able to attend the game due to a work commitment. When he offered us the tickets we thought it over for about 12 milliseconds before enthusiastically saying "YES!!!"

As with everything in our lives, the pandemic had played the major part in our not seeing a game in Chavez Ravine for a long, long time.

We also used the game as an excuse to go out for a pre-game meal at one of our favorite, iconic downtown Los Angeles eatery.

Philippe's is over 100 year old and a

perfect spot to dine before a Dodger game

I'm sure that they serve other things besides French dipped sandwiches but I have no clue what they might be with one or two exceptions.

Our order

A pork French dipped sandwich for each of us with a slab of strong bleu cheese and a dash of Philippe's spicy mustard.

Laurie had her customary beer while I indulged myself with two lemonades.

We shared one of those exceptions to the Philippe's menu, a slice of apple pie.

We instantly recognized that the roll the sandwich was served in was not the same one as usual. Truth be told, it was not as good as I remembered but I'm ready to go back and give them another chance soon.

Besides changing the lineup system to order your food to conform with anti-coronavirus protocols, we noticed one other obvious difference at Philippe's on this pleasant Spring afternoon.

Traditionally, the ladies who take your food order and make your sandwiches in front of you while you wait are, shall we kindly say, experienced veterans of the culinary arts.

Tonight, they were young ladies in their late 20s or early 30s. We guessed that fear of contracting Covid-19 may have forced a generational change in the work staff.

Fully sated, it was time to head the Dodger Stadium, a.k.a., Blue Heaven on Earth.

We needed to adapt to more anti-coronavirus countermeasures in place at the ballpark.

First, you must pre-pay on line for parking. The rates are now $25/car in the general lots or $50/car to the park in one of the preferred lots. Please be sure to have your proof of purchase on your smart phone for scanning.

Preferred Parking is a part

of the season ticket plan

Again, no paper tickets to get into this still gorgeous ballpark that first opened in 1962 making it the third oldest stadium in major league baseball after only Boston's Fenway Park (1912) and Chicago's Wrigley Field (1914). The scanning of our electronic tickets on my iPhone once again went off without a hitch, we were in.

Lots of murals are smartly

found throughout Dodger Stadium,

Home of the 2020 World Champions

Mural of the commemorative pin that

we got during the 2010 campaign

We arrived in time to catch the end

of the Reds batting practice

The old ballpark still looked GREAT to me!

The view from our seats in

Loge Section 132, Row A, Seats 7 &8

NICE!!!

Social distancing and limited seating were both strictly in play at the ballpark as blocks of seats were roped off.

In our eight seat row, a couple sat in seats 1 & 2, we sat in seats 7 & 8 and seats 3-6 were roped off. The entire row behind us was closed to spectator use.

The purchase of all souvenir, dining items and beverages could only be done by debit or credit cards, no cash allowed.

The Dodgers were doing everything they could to help stop the spread of the pandemic.

Still, we were two Happy Campers!

Now, let's set the game up.

The Dodgers entered the contest tied with the hated ones, the San Francisco Giants, for first place in the National League's West Division with a 15-8 record. Unfortunately, the Boys in Blue had lost seven of their last nine games.

As for the Reds, they were currently in fourth place in the NL Central Division with a 10-12 record and had also lost seven of their last nine games. 

Walker Buehler's first pitch of the

game to Reds' left fielder Jesse Winker

was blasted deep into the Right Field

Pavilion for a home run and an early 1-0 lead

Buehler settled down to strike out the next three batters to end the opening frame in what was an up-and-down outing for the young Dodger ace. While he totaled ten strikeouts, he also allowed five runs and seven hits in his 6 1/3 innings on the mound.

The Dodgers would lose this one by a final score of 6-5 in garnering only four hits while leaving 12 runners stranded on base. Eight walks certainly helped the Dodgers offensive efforts.

It must be noted that in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Reds ahead 1-0, Laurie channeled her inner Tommy Lasorda and made a bold prediction.

At a time when Los Angeles was still hitless, she announced that Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and first baseman Max Muncy would both walk and then catcher Will Smith would hit a home run.

And that is EXACTLY what happened, Dodgers 3 - Reds 1.

Unfortunately she had no other positive Dodger vibes the rest of the way.

On a final note, one must remember that the Dodgers traditionally lead MLB in home attendance. In pre-pandemic season of 2019, they averaged about 49,000 spectators per game. Due to the anti-Covid 19 measures, only about 15,000 fans are allowed into current Dodger games.

It makes for short lines at all the concession booths and restroom. Getting out of Dodger Stadium to get to the freeway is usually a nightmare. Given the tiny crowd, we were on the Hollywood Freeway heading to Camarillo about five minutes after getting into our car.

PAUL SABOLIC,

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT EVENING OUT ON THE TOWN!

Atascadero at Pioneer Valley Game

 

Mon.-Mon., April 19-26, 2021

A good week that was highlighted by our first overnight trip in I don't know how long.

If you recall, I was asked to journey about two hours north of Camarillo on two occasions this past September and October to give coaching clinics to the staff at Pioneer Valley H.S. on the topics of the Delaware Wing-T offense, the Kicking Game and Program Organization.

The Panthers had only won one game in 2019 and wanted to make the necessary changes to turn their program in the right direction during this unique pandemic countermeasure Spring high school football season.

After having their first two games cancelled due to a positive Covid-19 test on their team, the Panthers had enjoyed a good season with wins over Mission Prep (13-6) and cross town rival Santa Maria (34-14). Their lone loss, and a close one at that, this Spring was to Ocean League Champion Nipomo (13-21).

Thus Laurie and I headed north to see the Panthers play their last game of the season, at home vs. the Atascadero Greyhounds.

We opted to drive up slowly on Friday morning to enjoy distance-appropriate stops in Solvang, Los Olivos and Pismo Beach before settling into our digs at the Historic Santa Maria Inn before the scheduled 6:00 p.m. Kickoff.

The Greyhounds were 0-5

going into this contest

As stated, the Panthers were 2-1

going into the game

The pre-game article in the Santa Maria Times stated that this should be an easy victory for the Pioneer Valley squad.

Bulletin board material for Atascadero and a source of fodder for overconfident teenage Panther minds as well. I thought that it could be a factor in the game, especially in the early going.

But first, let's take a look at delightful Solvang, the Danish themed city in California's Central Coast area.

Laurie and I back in the 1960s?

Laurie and I today perhaps

Everyone was wearing their

face masks including this fellow

MAGICAL!!!

We had a solid breakfast in Solvang that included an order of that Danish treat, æbleskiver! Afterwards, some shopping was the call of the morning first in Solvang and then about seven miles away in Los Olivos.

We also did some much needed strolling through Pismo Beach before eating an early dinner at one of our favorite spots, Mo's BBQ.

It was nearing game time so we were off to Pioneer Valley H.S. to meet Nicole Beck, the wife of the Panthers' Head Coach John Beck who had our hard-to-get tickets to the contest that had limited fans allowed in due to the pandemic.

Panthers in black warming up

A successful on-side KO by Atascadero

to start the game

It was just the spark that an 0-5 Atascadero squad needed to start a game that was billed as an easy victory for Pioneer Valley by the media.

The Greyhounds looked like

anything but an 0-5 club

in the first half

The underdog Greyhounds showed a lot of grit in leading 12-7 at the end of the First Quarter and only trailing 14-12 at Halftime.

Then the Panthers got serious.

In the Third Quarter, Pioneer Valley dominated by scoring 26 unanswered points to extend their lead to 40-12 after 36 minutes of play.

An early Fourth Quarter TD called for a running clock and the Panthers ended their season with a 47-12 victory and a 3-1 record, a far cry from their 1-9 during their last campaign in 2019.

As for the now 0-6 Greyhounds, they have one more game this coming Friday at home against the 4-2 Paso Robles Bearcats.

After a good night's sleep in the Historic Santa Maria Inn, we were scheduled to take another leisurely drive home, this time driving through the Lompoc Valley before stopping in Buellton for lunch at the Hitching Post for some amazing BBQ ribs.

We had a problem.

The 1-0 Varese Skorpions were

playing the 1-0 Cernusco Daemons

at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Savings

time and it was being live streamed

It was also the Skorpions first game in

Varese's large velodrome/soccer stadium

 

So, what to do?

We watched the First Quarter in our hotel room before heading on our way home.

When we arrived at the hitching post about an hour later, the game was mysteriously still in the last gasps of the Second Quarter. I've been led to believe that injuries to both teams was the reason for slow pace of the game.

We cracked open a bottle of

Laurie's favorite wine before

the ribs arrived

At this point we made the conscious decision that while I enjoyed my one glass, Laurie would finish the bottle while we both watched the Second Half of the Skorpions game on my phone.

A glass of wine, a game on the phone,

BBQ ribs and an ostrich farm in behind

me . . . WHAT MORE COULD ONE WANT?

Well, how about a stirring come from

behind victory for your

favorite Italian DII team?

The Varese eleven were down 13-14 with about three minutes left in the game when lightning struck in the form of a miracle TD pass, a successful two-point conversion pass and then a pick-six with a positive PAT kick to seal the deal!

The normal DII season is an eight game affair, this year with teams opting out, only six contests make up the Skorpions Girone (League) B slate.

The Skorpions and Daemons appear to be the class of the Girone so this win by 14 points is huge!

The two teams will meet again on June 6th in Cernusco. It should be a great one again I suspect.

2-0 is a GOOD thing!

Mary got a surprise Build-a-Bear

from her Daisy Scouts on Sunday

for her efforts in the annual

Girl Scouts Cookies sales efforts

She named her Daisy.