Weekend Round-Up: Mountain Play

Another classic San Francisco weekend!

On Friday, Rob and I went to the climbing gym after work. Margaret arrived later once we were back at home and helped me make a batch of oatmeal cookies while playing lego Indiana Jones. To bed around midnight.

Up at 9 the next morning to prepare for Mountain Play. I decided to make a last minute orzo pasta salad. We packed the car up with blankets and picnic baskets and drove over to Russian Hill to pick up Matt and Amber. We parked at Tamalpais High to wait for the school bus shuttle to Mt. Tam. In line, Margaret and I thought of old camp songs with a nice grandmother who had been a girl scout leader.

Once at the top, we found a spot at the very back underneath a big oak tree to set up our picnic. Altogether we had: orzo salad, salami, baguettes, blue cheese, truffle mustard, potato chips, beets, carrots, cookies, wine, sparkling water and raspberries. A feast!

The Wizard of Oz was darling. The perfect blend of community theater (the good witch “flew” in on a rented cherry picker, volunteers dressed in black whirled around the stage to be the tornado) and the pros (the dog playing Toto was amazing, good choreography and staging). At one point they had a small plane fly by the open theater with a banner warning “surrender Dorothy.” Everyone in the audience was cheering, booing and waving along with the show. There’s one more show next Sunday, I recommend going!

After the play ended, we dropped off some of our bags at a bus and headed down the 6 mile hike back to Mill Valley….of course, we started off on the wrong trail and got about a mile off track in Muir Woods. With the help of a GPS and map, we found our way back to the well marked Dispea trail and to the shuttle. A much desired stop at 7-11 on the way home helped us rehydrate with slurpees and big gulps of water.

Back in the city, we dropped off Matt and Amber around 7:00 and found a parking spot on Chestnut Street. Our friends who recently had a baby were in town and we joined them for a long dinner. Lots of holding the darling sleeping baby. Back at home at 11, we washed the trail dirt off our feet sitting on the edge of the bathtub and crashed into bed.

Up at 8:30 the next morning so Rob could go to disc golf with Matt at 9:00. Breakfast of oatmeal, mango and coffee. Margaret left to go to work around 10:00. I picked up the house, planned the dinner menu and did a massive amount of dishes.

Rob returned before lunch, just in time for Tracy to come by and talk about my wedding dress. She found some gorgeous silk for the new liner and took my measurements. It’s almost creepy how well the current slip (last worn by grandmother and great aunt in the 1940’s) fits me.

After Tracy left, we went to the grocery store to load up on dinner party supplies. A nice lunch at home of leftover vegetarian chili and a big salad. Pretty soon, it was time to set the table and get dinner started.

Inspired by the Japanese art nouveau vase I bought at The Met, I decided to make a casual Japanese dinner. I’ll share all the details in a separate post. It was a fun party! Our guests left at 9:00 and we picked up a bit before turning in.