Pancake Heaven at Solbar, Calistoga

We had a delicious breakfast and lunch at the Michelin 1-Star-rated Solbar Restaurant in Calistoga, California.

I love the Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup and have enjoyed them a few times. These are my all-time favorite pancakes anywhere!

Inna ordered the "Bodega Bay" - an English Muffin with Dungeness Crab - and it was also delicious!

During lunchtime (after a beautiful bike ride to Sterling Vineyards), we stopped at Solbar again - this time for lunch.

Inna ordered a cocktail - "Sex in the Valley," and it was a bit refreshing.

We ordered "Spicy Shrimp Lettuce Wraps" and a "Chicken with Lettuce" for lunch.

We also tried some Donut Holes, which were also delicious.

Both dishes were delicious and healthy. We really like Solbar!

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Relaxing at Indian Springs Resort & Spa in Calistoga

We arrived at Calistoga's Indian Springs Resort & Spa late in the evening, around 11:15 p.m.

Given the light traffic, the evening drive was not very exhausting. Luckily, we had just enough time to dip in the hot thermal pool of Indian Springs.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The next day, we got up early and went for a morning swim at the thermal pool. The morning was gorgeous, and we enjoyed the warm water. It's so relaxing to float around in the naturally heated pool.

When we finished relaxing, we returned to our suite to change for breakfast. We drove to our favorite restaurant, Solbar, less than a mile away.

I ordered my favorite Lemon-Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup. I swear the drive to Calistoga is worth it just for these beauties!

Inna ordered the "Bodega Bay" special, which was also delicious.

After breakfast, we decided to ride a nice bike to Sterling Vineyards. Here is a short video of our bike ride there:

Sterling Vineyards looked quite busy - and they have a ramp to the top of the mountain for a nice overlook, but we decided against going up.

We had a wonderful, relaxing stay at Indian Springs Resort and Spa, nd hope to be back there again.

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Anniversary Dinner at the Plumed Horse

Today, we decided to have our 12th Wedding Anniversary dinner at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga.
We usually prefer to go to Manresa, but it was unavailable for our special day.

We ordered the "Chef's Autumn Tasting Menu," which was delicious! This is now Inna's favorite restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This little appetizer trifle was the Chef's opening number.

The first dish is "Maine Lobster with California Caviar." It was very nice.

The next dish was a soup.

The Black Pepper and Parmesan soufflé was so delicious! It was the best dish ever! We would get back for this dish! It's considered the signature dish for Plumed Horse.

The "Sonoma Rabbit" was quite delicious.

The "Filet of Beef Tenderloin" was soft and delicious.

The beef was so tender and juicy!

The first of 3 desserts was a cookie with some ice cream.

The next dessert was also delicious. It's the best ice cream we've ever tried.

The third and final dessert was Valrhona chocolate with raspberries.

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Review: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Berkeley Rep)

Today, we saw Berkeley Rep's production of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike."
The play was exciting but not super entertaining.

SFGate has an interesting review of the play here.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Written by Christopher Durang
Directed by Richard E.T. White
Limited Season · Roda Theatre
September 20–October 25, 2013

Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play!

Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission

Christopher Durang—Obie Award winner of such rollicking comedies asSister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You and The Marriage of Bette & Boo—turns Chekhov on his head in this witty and incisive new farce for our modern hyperconnected world. In bucolic Bucks County, PA, Vanya and Sonia have frittered their lives away in their family’s farmhouse full of regret, angst and the alarmingly ambiguous prophecies of their addled housecleaner Cassandra. Enter their sister, self-absorbed movie star Masha, with her prized 20-something boy toy Spike, and the stage is set for an absurd weekend of general hilarity and global warming. This year’s Broadway sensation, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike delights audiences with its abundant comic twists while paying loving homage to Chekhov’s classic themes of loss and longing.

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Review: Apple iMac 27

Today, we purchased an Apple iMac 27 (2013+) to replace our Dell XPS One 2710 (which had problems with WiFi connectivity).

In comparison to Dell, Apple's iMac has some interesting differences:

Advantages of iMac 27

• iMac is much slimmer and much better looking
• iMac is much quieter, and I never heard the fan going off (Dell's fan is pretty loud)
• iMac has a much faster graphics chip (Nvidia 755m vs 640m)
• iMac has a better mouse and keyboard
• iMac supports the latest Wi-Fi (AC vs. 802.11a/b/g on Dell). Dell's Wifi was super slow.
• iMac can dual-boot OS X or Windows 7 using Boot Camp
• OS X is much better than Windows 8

Advantages of Dell XPS One

• Dell's screen has a much wider gamut and looks much better than the iMac's
• Dell has much better speakers and sound quality
• Dell has a CD/DVD drive for watching DVDs
• Dell has a much faster SSD (Crucial 256 mSATA)
• Dell dual boots Windows 7 or Windows 8
• Dell had a larger hard disk (2TB vs 1TB)
• Dell is more accessible to service and upgrade (most parts are easily removable and replaceable)
• Dell has a more extended warranty of 3 years, with on-site home service and 24/7 phone support.

After some time, I decided to return the iMac (it was within its 14-day return period) because I wanted an iMac with the PCIe SSD drive - not the 7,200 rpm hard disk. Also, I was not happy with the color quality of the Apple display - I thought that both Dell's XPS One and my HP ZR30w monitors were far superior. With an iMac, one is stuck with whatever display one gets.

An iMac is completely un-upgradeable - one cannot change the hard disk, add an SSD, or add additional memory. I like to be able to upgrade or replace parts as needed.

I decided to get an upgraded iMac with a 3.4 GHz i5 processor, Nvidia GTX 775 graphics, and a PCIe 256GB SSD instead of the 1TB hard disk.

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Review: Dell XPS One 2710

About a month ago, I purchased a refurbished Dell XPS One 2710 all-in-one desktop Windows 8 PC from Costco.com (online) - to replace my 7-year-old Apple iMac.

The Dell desktop PC arrived quickly and booted just fine. I really disliked Windows 8 and decided to install Windows 7. I ordered a Crucial M4 mSATA SSD (256GB Flash) and installed it inside the Dell with Windows 7. Now, I could boot either Windows 7 or 8.

The computer has been running great for the past month until two days ago.

Suddenly, the Dell PC started experiencing problems connecting to my Asus RT-66U router for no apparent reason. It would connect, then randomly disconnect, on Windows 7 and Windows 8.

I contacted Dell support, and after 30 minutes of analysis, the technician requested that a new Dell DW1703 wireless card be sent to me to correct this issue. A Unisys repairman came in the next day and replaced my  DW1703 wireless card. However, the repair did not fix the problem, and the PC still has intermittent connectivity.

Another Dell representative called me on Friday morning to ask about the Wireless repair, and I explained that no progress had been made. We tried a lot of things for over 90 minutes without any resolution. How many times can one install and reinstall drivers?

Now, I need to decide whether to purchase another PCIe wireless card and install it to see if this solves the issue, or return the computer to Costco and buy another iMac.

I finally decided that I had had enough debug time with Dell. The iMac seemed too tempting. I decided to return the Dell XPS One to Costco.

Today, I packed it and returned it to Costco. Now, I need to see which iMac is the most suitable replacement.

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Kayaking on Donner Lake

Today, we decided to visit Truckee and the nearby Donner Lake to enjoy the last remnants of late summer at Lake Tahoe. The day was sunny and warm but became overcast in the afternoon, with a light shower.

The beach around Donner Lake was nearly empty, and few people were around.

Alex and Sasha did a few rounds of kayaking on Donner Lake. The water was cold, but they did not mind and had a lot of fun.

Here is a short video of their kayaking:

Inna and Alla also got to try out the ocean. They got caught in a light shower on the lake but didn't mind. Inna went swimming in the cold lake afterward.

We went for a short hike around the lake, covering the flat ground with many pines.

The trail was not asphalted, so Alex could not ride his scooter.

After the hike, we returned to our residence for dinner.

Eggs sunny side up, coming right up.

Alex, little Sasha, and Liza enjoyed the hot tub.

Sunday, September 14, 2013

We decided to try mountain biking from Squaw Valley to Lake Tahoe along the nearby paved bike path. The path follows the Truckee River, and we enjoyed the beautiful Lake Tahoe National Forest.

A few people were rafting down the Truckee River. It seemed shallow in places.

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