Weekend Round-Up: Oysters

On Friday, I cleaned up dishes from the pumpkin carving party by candlelight during a neighborhood power outage. Rob came home and the lights came on, so we made a poster to virtually-cheer Jean during her Ironman race the next day.

We packed up early next morning to drive to Samuel P. Taylor campground for Denyse’s birthday trip. By the time we arrived and set-up the tent under a redwood tree, most everyone was awake and ready to hit the road.

We rode 8 miles to Pt. Reyes Station for lunch supplies and delicious pastries from Bovine Bakery. From there, another 12 miles – mostly uphill – to arrive at Drakes Bay Oyster Farm. Gorgeous warm weather, something you almost never have out along the coast there.

Denyse bought five dozen “medium” oysters that were HUGE. Some of the largest were probably 1/4 lb each. We set to work shucking with various knives and enjoying a great picnic with champagne, beer, cheese, bread, olives and persimmons.

Yum, I love oysters – especially straight out of the bay. I probably had 10 or so, mostly with lemon. This was one of my last, one of the smaller guys:

Fast 20 mile ride back to camp, racing to beat the sunset. We had a nice night around the campfire, with a gourmet dinner cooked in foil packets. Cozy night in our four season tent, it was chilly!

Breakfast the next morning with lots of hot coffee. We packed up the tent and hit the road around 10 am.

Back in the city, it was time to unpack and shower (campfires are so smelly!). I checked my email and saw that Jean finished her huge race in 11 hours and 39 minutes, 20 minutes under her goal time – Whoa! Go Jean!

Rob and I had lunch at home and then walked downtown to shop for comfortable winter shoes to wear in Japan and an outfit for him to wear to an investor presentation on Monday. Lovely day to be out and about. Quiet dinner at home and lots of laundry in the evening. We’ve got a busy week ahead with Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, a housewarming party and the opera.