Travelog for: Squab

http://www.toyvoyagers.com/index.php?a=post_view&t=212357&p=83180

Hi DuDette,

Thanks for mentioning your dear little brother who is bigger than you, Noodles in your travelog.  Yes, he can fly quite well now.  In fact he and Okuma are flying to a new host as we speak!!  They are so happy!  The last we heard from them, they were doing a pit stop at a post office.  I'm sure he will update his travelog when he gets to an internet connection.

He he, I have taken over the big bed for myself now but we are expecting more guests soon, then I will be polite and go back to the couch.  Oh, I would love to be home in that nice weather.  Enjoy it, DuDette.  This morning we listened to fog horns, a very pleasant sound but it means it is chilly outside.

Bye now, say hello to my Mom,

Squab

We are enjoying lazy summer days and getting started on new detective cases.  Here are some miscellaneous photos.  Mom, maybe you can guess the various locations?  Of course, the first two are in DuDu’s office.  He brought out an ornament that DuDette brought back from Miss Kate’s house and sits next to it on “their bench.” 

Bye now,

Squab
Assistant Detective
C.T. Mouse Detective Agency

Wow!  Alex!  No wonder you are a full detective and I am still an assistant.

Yes, indeed, the flowers were at the Bouquets to Art event at the deYoung Museum.  Women who attend make a special effort to at least peek into all of the ladies' rooms to see extra bouquets. We cropped out a lot that would tell you I am on the sink; that is why there is a mirror behind me.  Since I'm a guy, I'm embarrassed to say we know nothing about the men's room exhibits.  No double meaning intended.

My dear brother, you are totally right about the others.  Neighborhood boundaries are imprecise and disputed but by any definition, yes, the rooftop is on Russian Hill.  Yes, the ships are in Aquatic Park and that is the Taylor Street cable car turnaround.

Yes, exactly, in the photo with the view of Coit Tower: wow, Alex almost nobody here knows it was named Pioneer Park.  I was on the other side of Russian Hill on Filbert Street between Hyde and Leavenworth which is considered the steepest DRIVABLE grade in the city.  Residents have recently put in a request that taxicabs be forbidden to speed down the hill.  How can they enforce that?  Really, tourists need to get some representation here.  $5 for a cable car ride with no transfers when residents can just include it in their monthly pass. Unfair!

The skyscraper photo was taken at one of many little-known public open spaces. Yes, it is accessed through the top level of the Crocker Galleria by a staircase close to Sutter Street.  There is another staircase on the opposite side to get to another open space.  There are benches where office workers can escape for lunch or break in both spaces.  This one is less crowded and can be mistaken for a hotel space which we would treat as public also.  We believe it can also be accessed by elevator through the hotel and we know the other one has an elevator entrance through a bank.

The local newspaper has been running frequent articles about the SCANDAL of hiding public spaces which have been required with new construction for a couple of decades now.  Here is a typical story.

Yes, yours is a tough quiz, Alex.

Edit:  Here is my answer for the green Queen Anne-style house:  850 Steiner Street.Perhaps it was the same house depicted in the TV series, Mama, way back in the 1950s.  My host will not allow us to go to that neighborhood again because the bus ride is dangerous.  .  End of edit.

The photos with the pyramid building in the background were taken at Fisherman's Wharf Pier 45.  Thanks, Alex, we really enjoyed the morning walk.  

Your calendar guy,

Squab
Assistant Detective
C.T. Mouse Detective Agency

Alex, my dear, you should write letterbox clues.   Here is one we haven't found yet but we know where the Ent is.  Our confusion may be in what they mean by reversa.

We will try to think up a quiz for you.  DuDu says he'd like to see photos of good street food or the kind of food people might grab on the way to work.  But don't rush, wouldn't want you to blimp out.

Hmm, is Masonic an avenue, Google says yes, didn't know that.  We'll get on that, maybe take in some nearby sights.  My my, that Queen Anne is a mirror image of yesterday's house but lacking a ruinous garage.  Yeah!

Oh, here is a photo to test your skills.  Hint:  it was taken today near where we bought some postcards. 

Okay, Alex, we have a short  quiz.  No need to take photos.

1.  Where is this painting detail to be found?

2.  Where is this famous cafe?  What would you order?

3. and 4.  Where have these silver aliens landed?  Why?  What do they want?

Your Squab
Still Assistant Detective
C.T. Mouse Detective Agency

Peace and Love

From the Haight

Your Flower Children,

DuDu & Squab

Hi Mom,

We passed a Russian Orthodox church that looked on the level but after having a few mimosas with brunch, we climbed up to a steep street where the buildings looked tipsy.

Look!  I held up a big apartment building with a single wing. .  It was like Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass, TVs up a stairway.

Then I showed DuDu where Cheerio keeps the aspirin and we slept for three days.

Having fun,

Squab

Hey there hep cat, Alex,

Hum, A New Challenge.

Yep, DuDu knows both places well and got a little nostalgic looking at the photos.  He and what’s-her-name were married in the domed building and the other one is where you might go to sit by the dock of the bay. 

Here is Rafael on the pier that has a nice view of the Bay Bridge: 

Dock of the Bay, and

Here is TV-TV on the Polk Street side of the domed building.  DuDu wants me to mention that Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe were also married there.  They are both depicted on U.S. postage stamps this year, separately. 

City Hall

-----

Alex, you aced our quiz and we loved seeing DuDette jump in the car to drive fast. .

Yes, that is a Bufano statue.  Here is OrkkuOrava with another Bufano St. Francis

 Bufano's style is easy to identify all over the City. Here is DuDu 1 with a Bufano inside the Maritime Museum.

# 1 and 2 are totally correct and I love your choice of caramel treat. Is there a song lyric something like: "there's a Starbucks (near) where Checkpoint Charlie Used to be"?  maybe I'm thinking of "There's a Starbucks (Where The Starbucks Used to be").   Opposite sentiment?  "....There's a Walgreen's where there were no walls, just greenery".  There's a guardhouse (duplicate) where the guardhouse used to be.  Anyway, we love this song:

http://www.hippiesaredead.com/2011/09/john-wesley-harding-theres-starbucks.html

Yes, exactly, those silver aliens are in many places.  No. 3 is in Crissy Field in San Francisco and #4 is near Berlin.

Okay, now, no more orange juice and no more aspirin.  But it is the weekend and we have so much to celebrate:  the longest day, etc. 

Having fun,

Squab

Hi All,

First of all, DuDu wants to say he misses DuDette.    A lot. 

We took many many photos today but have time to post only a few, not really a quiz, but where to you think we went? 

We passed an interesting shop on the way to the bus stop.  A chicken cannot live by wine alone!!  I’m a little homesick. 

We had some close calls but the monsters didn’t get us.

Will post more photos soon,

Your Squab

Hi everyone, here are more photos of our day at the Conservatory of Flowers.  Since it is summer now, it has been whitewashed to help control the sunlight and heat.  If you visit during the fall-winter rainy season, it might look streaked as the whitewash gradually washes off.

It has won many awards including "best accidental sauna".  One of the exhibit rooms is very hot, another one hot and humid and a third is just right.  We wondered if the three bears live here.  

The World Monuments Fund had it on the list of 100 most endangered world monuments.  It was closed for restoration from 1998-2003 after a major earthquake in 1989 and a devastating windstorm in 1995.  We pondered the effects of building a "house upon the sand" for Golden Gate Park was originally sand dunes considered uninhabitable outside lands.  DuDu and I went inside to look at some of the rare plants growing here.  Can you find the turtle?

Here is everything you (n)ever wanted to know about it:

Conservatory of Flowers

World of Wonders Project

Golden Gate Park

Love ya, Mom.  Bye for now,

Squab

DuDu and I did a lot of chores around the house and then went outside to play when we found a package in the mailbox.  It was the long-anticipated Konrad just in from Utah.  Oh boy, I got the honor of prying him out of his flight suit.  I ripped it open with a handy nail file.  He was glad to get out and breathe in fresh air.  We took him for a walk and then went to DuDu's office where we discussed the vagabond life for hours.  Then we fluffed up his pillows and he slept like a bear.

Bye for now,

Squab

LittleCableCars had appointments today and DuDu kindly let us go along with him as he explored the Presidio.  He seems to be on a confidential case; we think he is trying to find out where the wild parrots nest.  I can't say any more about that. 

After our consultations with The Great Yoda, we hopped on a free shuttle and got off where everyone else did.

Your Squab
Assistant Detective
C.T. Mouse Detective Agency


Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing. How embarrassing.
--YODA, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Today we went on Route 66   to Muir Woods National Monument to see the giant redwood trees.  The foggy climate provides perfect conditions for the trees to grow for centuries.

On the way home we stopped at a town to see a view we liked.  We didn't know how to spell it, maybe you know the place?