Bell Pepper Salad

Tonight I blog from Molly Ney's bed. A very comfortable bed, but I'm very nervous about the red wine and white comforter. Molly's an old friend from my days in Tucson and is one of many old friends that I've been able to see while in the Bay Area. On the TV, is the video footage of Bob Dylan's Newport Folk Festival shows, which is ironic since hanging out in San Fran always makes me wish that I was born 30 earlier than I actually was.
Blogger's note: Amazingly enough, this site, which happens to be a blogging site, doesn't recognize "blog" as a word. In the top line, it has a red line under it as if it's misspelled. Now I'm realizing that the powers that be recognize it as a noun, but not a verb, which I still don't agree with.
Anyway, our little hiatus from traveling was nice, but Stanley's a little bored staying in one place, so I'd better get us out of here ASAP. I decided against the electric bike because the ones that I test drove didn't seem that they would help me at all. Both bikes were way too heavy and had too few gears so it seemed like they would be just as much a hindrance during the flats and downhills as they would help on the uphills. That means that I will leave the Bay Area just as I arrived last Friday, minus the safety improvements from Cambria. I had to get rid of the 48" yard stick (I know that's more than a yard, but I'm not sure what a 48" ruler is called) because travelling on BART was difficult with the extra appendage on The Stan Van. That's a name I'm toying with, but it's not official yet... I'm thinking that will going to be my mission this week, come up with a good and appropriate name for our rig. It was fun to ride BART since it's an electric train and a different method of transportation than I was used to with the bike/trailer combo.
While I mostly relaxed and planned the next leg of our adventure here, I definitely was able to see a lot of good music, eat my way around the city and see old friends like Molly, Russ and Bird. I also made a lot of new friends like Emilie and Stef. Emilie was the half of the hospitable hosts (Michelle and Emilie) that I hadn't known well before. I had a hysterical moment with her when I came back to the apartment and entered to an amazing aroma. It turns out that Emilie had a pot luck at work and was making an age old family recipe from her Algerian Grandmother. It had, among other things, Tomatoes, Red Bell Peppers and Garlic. By the time I arrived, it had been simmering for hours and the whole block, never mind just this apartment, smelled amazing. Emilie was nice enough to set some aside for me and told me that I could have it as soon as it cooled down as it was supposed to be a cold salad. After a hike to the top of the city, I came back and checked the fridge where I saw the Tupperware of the salad so I grabbed a fork and dug in. It was awesome and I just kept eating and eating when I went to grab a drink out of the fridge and saw a small jar of the same salad. It was then that I realized, to my horror, that I was eating out of the Tupperware that she was saving for the pot luck. Oh shit! I grabbed "my" little jar and dumped it into the Tupperware, frantically mixing it around trying to make it look like there was more salad left. I felt bad and hoped she wouldn't notice, but I got a call from Michelle half way through the next day that Emilie had called her and asked whether she had eaten the salad. That night, I wanted to stay out so I wouldn't have to fess up, so I drank beer after beer with Molly and Russ until I was pretty sure she was sleeping. So, I take this chance now, to fess up and apologize. Emilie, I'm very sorry for eating your pot luck entry!
Alright, that's it for now. The Bob Dylan footage has inspired us to watch I'm Not There and get a good night's sleep before starting the ascent into the Sierras.
By the way, thanks to everyone for helping me go over 300 members of the Todd and Stanley's Gasoline Free Adventure facebook group.
Also, happy anniversary to Uncle Peter and Eileen and go Mets and Jets!