Palo Alto Festival

Yesterday was a working day. Lou and Dawn making copies of her text books, 11x17 copies. I did some more dig out for the sidewalk.

On the way to our adventure for the day, today, we were witness to a person adding graffiti to the Whole Foods Market wall. It was nice to attempt to do the right thing but futile. Too bad. More information here.

We went over to the Palo Alto Wine and Art Festival. This is one of the nicest such festivals in the bay area. It was even better this year because there were actually a lot of new creative artists showing their stuff this year. It had been stagnating.


Lots of things to see at the festival


Above left, some of the art was rather large. Above right, Al Fabrizio (mandolin), Hugo Wainzinger (guitar and arrangements) played romantic Italian favorites near the sidewalk painting area. I could have listened to their music all day. Click here to listen to the group. The music groups were numerous and very good. It was hard to decide who to listen to. All of this on a perfect day, weather just right.

We then went shopping for a new TV for Dawn. We seem to have found it at Costco.

The evening was a cooking evening. We were all in the kitchen working. Dawn preparing some peaches for blintzes, Lou cooking the blintzes, and me preparing dough for a nice rhubarb pie and tarts and some meat pies for tomorrow. What fun!

The Whole Family

Yesterday I got the replacement receiver for the SloV plane. This morning, we took the whole family out for a flight. Lou and Dawn enjoyed flying the Jet and Bi-plane respectively.

I tried to fly the SloV. It flew nice and straight with a little adjustment for balance. Unfortunately, this being the weekend, we only had a small portion of the playing field due to soccer games starting up. So, there really wasn't enough space to have a nice flight. I was staying low as well to make sure the motor didn't stop as it had been doing with the old receiver/speed controller. All went well except that the motor does seem to be under powered so I may have to spring for another bigger battery? Anyway, the soccer field s filled up so we had to leave. We'll have better access during the week next week.


The bike bus took a trip in front of our house in the afternoon. They passed so quickly, all I got to see was the tail end. It remainds me of some of the Kenitic Art Race vehicles. Seems like a good idea with the high fuel prices of late.

Morning At The “Airport”

We all got up early and went over to Cubberly community Center to fly the planes. They have a large playing field that is often empty and it's ideal for us poor pilots. The bi-plane flies well. It likes to be lower and is easier for Dawn to see with its three colors and having red on it. the jet kind of blends in to the background and flies too fast as well. They are a thrill to fly.
While we waited for the planes to recharge, we went next door to Piazzo's Market and got breakfast. We'll have to plan better and bring picnic breakfasts with us next time. Looks like another plane will be needed!

Couldn’t Resist

Lou and I stopped by Target and got another plane. This time, we opted for the bi-plane. I ran it out to the car and started it charging while we continued our shopping. It only takes 20 minutes to recharge and uses the batteries in the transmitter to charge the plane. With a full charge the plane flies at least 10 minutes.

We then headed over to Cubberly Community Center here in Palo Alto to fly the two planes. The wind was way to strong and the little bi-plane just blew away. The jet did better but we decided to wait for better weather.

We made our way toward Morgan Hill. I stopped at my favorite gas station in Sunnyvale on the way. Regular is 2.98 there, 3.23 in Palo Alto. Had breakfast at Scramblez. Same breakfast as I had yesterday but we ordered it split. We each had more than enough that way. We dropped in at the RV shop and it wasn't quite ready yet. So we explored some more, visiting a nice yard statuary shop. Lou saw a pig she likes.

When we got the RV back Lou headed up to pick up Dawn since she was out of her classes. Real short first week, one day. I drove the RV home and cleaned up the inside some and return the stuff that had to be removed for service like the printer. Ready to roll when the time comes.

A Nice Bike Ride

Up early. I went down to Morgan Hill to Superior Automotive for service on the RV. This is where the RV went on it's last service over 10,000 miles back. I want to have a few things done and have a good checkup before we leave again. .
Lou got up early as well. Oddly, the toad had a service appointment as well this morning here in Palo Alto, so, since Lou and Dawn have other appointments today, I'll be riding the bike while I wait.

I rode over to Scramblez Restaurant about 2 miles South for breakfast. They do a nice breakfast. It has a fifties motif and homemade-like food to go with it. After a leisurely breakfast and newspaper read, I was on my way back when I got a call from the garage about the RV. No major problems. The brakes that I was concerned about are fine. The radiator needs a flush, rusted coolant. That with the other work will take more than today so I rode up to San Jose, about 8-10 miles to the light rail station and caught a ride toward home. It's 42 miles to home so I wasn't going to ride all the way home. . The Light Rail gets me up to Mountain View, about 3-4 miles from home for $1.75.

A benefit of this was that downtown Mountain View is where the Hong Kong bakery is so I stopped in for an egg tart. I was headed home when Lou called. They were free from their appointment and could pick me up. I mentioned my visit to the bakery so I had to go back and get more treats for them as well as some baked pork buns for breakfast tomorrow.

We did our grocery shopping and then we went out to fly my, or according to Dawn, her new plane. We went by a local schoolyard. Dawn and Lou got the basic instruction from me, the pilot with 20 minutes experience. They did very well. We only get 10 minutes per charge so since it was late only one charge. All went well except for one time when the plane was so high, the breeze kept it from coming back so it went over some trees and across a major street. Fortunately it made it across the street safely. We've got to find a bigger clear area to fly.

Dawn starts school again tomorrow at San Jose State. Summers over.

The toad made it back from the shop with some new brakes and a new battery among the other stuff. Ready to roll. It's been a costly week. Both cars and the RV serviced. Wow!

Another Flight Test

I got the interior of the RV cleaned out ready for service tomorrow. Among other things, the printer and it's holder have to be removed from on top of the engine compartment.

Got Lou's car back. Had to leave some money there to ransom it!

Since tomorrow is garbage day, the usual weekly cleanup occurred before, to fill up the containers.

Another flight of the little plane at the park. It is fun.

Eye Doctor

Lou and Dawn were busy at the eye doctor. All's well but Dawn does need to have some minor laser surgery on her good eye to stabilize some scar tissue on the retina. Scary!

I needed to have some service done to the RV before we leave again. I called the place I took it to last. Superior Automotive in Morgan Hill did a good job and seem to be easier than some of the other places to get an appointment. They could take it Wednesday or the following week. A little conflict since the toad is in the shop that day as well. But since I want to get it done, I take the first opportunity.. Always have the bike.

I took the new plane over to the neighborhood park for a flight. The parks a bit small but it worked out. It was a little windy so I stayed close to the ground. When I got higher, it would blow away. I hung it in the hedge and in a tree once. I had the help of a couple of little kids who always ran it down for me. It works well.

Lou's car was in for service. It had to stay over night to get a part for the rear door.