Happy 2016!!

So Happy New Year!!  Here comes 2016 and I have found a resolution I can live with this year.  I have not made many resolutions over the years because by the second week of the year, I was a resolution failure! Not this year!!  Oh and tamales!!  I'm going to add tamales too - cheese & chicken & pork & beef and cheese and black bean & ETC.

 

 

We are adjusting to Galveston or it to us and we really like it here.  We went to the Farmer's Market and Katie's again this Sunday.  This week was not so good for shopping.  Mike discovered that when you buy snapper at Katie's, you don't want it fileted.  Since the snapper is already gutted, we will just bring them home and filet them as the cost doubles if they do it.  You pay for total fish weight and not just the filets.  The Farmer's Market was sparse and neither the tomato lady nor the baker was there so we turned around and went to Kroger....on a Sunday...on a holiday weekend.  Yep, mid-week shopping at Kroger from now on.  Good news is I now have a senior discount flagged on my Kroger card.  Oh yeah!! I ask for those discounts EVERYWHERE these days!!!

 



Mike found a jigsaw puzzle of 100 dogs and a cat in a drawer under the TV.  He has put it together in three days.  I'm a drive-by puzzler and stop by to find a few pieces or build most of one dog before going off to read my book or play scrabble with Liz and Carol.  I get too frustrated to stay at it but he can sit for hours and concentrate. 

We were VERY lucky with the storms through Texas this weekend.  All of the tornadoes and snow stayed north and west of us.  While the seas were rough and the red flags were flying, our weather was warm - into the high 70's & low 80's.  Then the cold front arrived Sunday afternoon and we are now in the mid to high 50's for the next week.  Yesterday the sea looked like glass and the high winds disappeared.  When I booked us into Galveston, I thought the sea would look like it does in Cancun or Baja California but it doesn't.  Today it is steel gray with a deeper gray shade on the horizon.  There is a lot of sand churned up so near shore it looks almost beige.  They are still catching good sized fish on the Galveston Fishing Pier so I guess the fish don't care about our cold snap.

Today we purchased Mardi Gras tickets for us and cousin Tawn.  We are going to a balcony party on February 6th to enjoy the parades and concerts here in Galveston.  This island hosts the second largest Mardi Gras festival in the US, just behind New Orleans.

Happy New Year to everyone!!  Hope 2016 is exactly what you've dreamed of it being.

Farmer's Market & Katie's - First Week

Note to self:  read the Galveston.com page before venturing out into downtown on a Sunday!!

We decided to find the Farmer's Market on Post Office Street, which is run every Sunday, rain or shine.  As we got a little north of 61st Street we noticed a long line of orange cones blocking the right hand lane and by the time we reached 25th Street there was a huge traffic jam due to the Santa Run half marathon.  We finally turned around and went down 27th street checking at each crossing for the barriers and police.  Eventually we found one street which was open with police directing traffic so that we could get north of 25th and we took it! 

Breakfast at Denny's and then shopping.  You can not take me shopping hungry, as Mike has discovered the hard way.  On the way back to the Farmer's Market, we encountered the 5K people who's activity started about an hour later than the marathon.  Goodness!!!

The Farmer's Market is small but had a good variety of choices.  They even had a small band providing music while we shopped.  We bought 2 pounds of fresh tomatoes, homemade salsa verde, homemade lavender lemon jam, and 1 and 1/2 loaves of this wonderful sourdough bread.  The baker grinds his own grains and uses the best products he can find.  He provides tastings and tells you exactly why he made the choices he made.  We ended up sharing a loaf of plain sourdough with another lady who said she just couldn't eat a whole loaf by herself and then bought my selection of black olive sourdough.  Next week we will buy Mike the Italian blend sourdough. He says it has a very good nose.

It was time to run the gauntlet again and head up to Wharf Street for Katie's Seafood.  Traffic was still a mess but Mike was determined.  When we walked into the place, we were both overjoyed.  They have an L shaped display of the night's catch laid out on ice.  First stop was the shrimp.  A pound of jumbo @ $11.  We next zeroed in on the lone dorado (mahi mahi) but decided it was too much fish for 2.  Our clerk immediately offered to filet half of it for us because someone would buy the other half later in the day.  We were set to buy some grouper or snapper (they have each whole and will clean/filet them before you) until we saw their beautiful yellow fin tuna.  We are having 2 one inch thick seared tuna steaks tonight for dinner.  We  bought 4 meals of fish for $50 which is a bargain.  It is pricy to eat out in a tourist town where our average meal has been around $60 and we are still looking for the local hangouts.  I know this will be a weekly run for us, just never on Sunday again.

We had a little help from a local when picking out our fish!  They give all of their scraps to the pelicans so this guy was just a bit impatient and came inside for a snack.

When we left Katie's we wanted to avoid the runners so I thought it would be best to head south along the harbor until we got to a traffic light and then we could drive cross island to Seawall.  Last BIG MISTAKE of the day!!  Did you know that both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have cruises arriving/leaving Galveston every Sunday????  We found that out the hard way.  Everyone  on those 2 HUGE ships was trying to wrangle luggage and each other across the street.  What a mess!

We have made the executive decision to stay home on Saturday and Sunday thru our stay.  We can shop mid-week during our explorations.  It is nice to have that option.

Ahhhh, Galveston!!

After a couple of busy days in Cleveland Texas at our storage space, we traveled south to Galveston for our winter retreat.  The traffic and road construction were horrible.  I remembered some fun times on I-45 when I worked for MCC, Inc. out of Cincinnati and did a consulting job at Sakowitz department stores here in the Houston area.  One of their stores was NASA off of I-45 South and I  do remember driving that highway.   (Must remember to plan a trip to NASA while we are here)   I-45 has not changed, except to get narrower and rougher.  I was VERY happy that Mike was the designated driver!!

We had a windy crossing on the bridge to the island.  Our destination was The Dawn condominium complex on Seawall Boulevard.  The directions were perfect and we were here in no time.  Wait, what do you mean we're on the third floor and there is NO ELEVATOR?????  Poor Mike!  He carried up everything out of the truck while I unpacked.  I think by the end of this stay, we will both be slimmer and have excellent lung capacity from the climb, not to mention riding our bikes up and down the seawall.

Our VRBO condo is a 2 bed, 2 bath facing the ocean.  It is well decorated (except for the dreaded sofa sleeper every rental seems to have these days!!).  The sofa is very uncomfortable but the love seat and side chair are just right for us.  Mike has set up his temporary office at the end of the dining room table and we have unpacked everything.  Galley kitchen makes it a little tight for 2 to cook at the same time but we are managing.

NOTE:  While I thought we'd gotten rid of enough, we weren't even close!  One of the first things to locate on the island was the Goodwill store.  We will be carting a number of items over there in the next month or so and reducing yet again the amount of clothes & shoes I thought I needed and the amount of kitchen things Mike thought he needed.

We have visited the post office to mail out Mike's Christmas letter and verify where I can pick up mail for General Delivery there.  Mike can't get over the fact that you can have something sent to you at most any PO in the country c/o General Delivery.  It is great for our mail drop & saves us the 2 hour trip to Livingston this winter.

So some exploration is underway as neither of us has ever been to Galveston...what can I say?  It looked good on the map and the winter temps were warm.  Many of the summer activities and shops/restaurants are closed for the winter.  We don't mind as it means we have peace and quiet.  Some things, including the Pleasure Pier will re-open for a day or two at Christmas.  They  have the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruises that leave from here weekly so downtown is still a very active scene.  We have meandered thru one big antique mall so far....I only found 4 things I wanted to buy before I remembered I don't have any place to hang/put them!  Oh woe is me!!!!!

We've had a meal at Tortuga's (Mexican), Salsa (Mexican), Fish Tales & Gaido's.  Salsa is worth a return trip(s) and Gaido's was an experience.  Our waiter was very young and was probably the owner's grandson as there was a noticeable lack of experience and training.  The restaurant has been here since 1911.  We kind of stumbled into it and then I thought 'holy moley, this might be a little too fancy for lunch' as I saw the white tablecloth & linen napkins along with the white shirt and black vested waiters.  The food, while a little pricy, was very tasty.  The best part of the meal was Mike ordering the shrimp bisque soup.  Our little waiter kept calling is bisquick!!  Made us laugh every time.  My shrimp and blue cheese grits were very tasty and I must have eaten a loaf of bread.  We will most likely go back for a splurge evening meal next month.

I have saved the best news until last!!  So far (less than a week) I have met 2 wiener dogs who live in this complex.  Miss Goldie is a  small petite gal about 6 pounds and a lovely red color.  She adores attention with scratches.  CoCo lives on the first floor of our building.  He is a doxie mix and he keeps barking at us until we walk over and pet him.  His owner said it was strange how he took to us right away but I told him we are dachshund people and they seem to recognize that.

I think we are  going to enjoy our time on this island.

San Antonio TX

 

 

Getting to the hotel off of I-10 into downtown San Antonio was stressful for both of us, even with the GPS system. The downtown streets were laid out in the 1700's so that should explain that.  Very narrow and twisty which does not go well with a full sized Tundra truck.  But we made it!!

We stayed at the Contessa Hotel on the Riverwalk.  I have always wanted to see the Riverwalk and the Alamo.  Being a Texan now, I believe a pilgrimage to the Alamo is required.  The picture below is outside of the hotel.  At night everything is decorated for Christmas with lots of colored lights dangling from the 8 to 10 story high trees along the river.  Quite festive!

 

                                                    Riverwalk from The Contessa Hotel

                                                     

Our room was a nice suite on the 7th floor overlooking the river.  It was a little pricy but had direct access to the Riverwalk and is on the quiet side away from most of the shops and restaurants.  BTW...avoid the shops on Riverwalk as they sell the same cheap stuff you find in the tourist traps in Mexico ... everything is made in China! 

We had a good Italian dinner of Chicken Picata and Shrimp Diablo.   Later we walked to the Iron Cactus for dessert.  We can't really recommend the Iron Cactus as it appears they serve (replace) blanco tequila as the aged (anejo) Don Julio.  We sent drinks back twice and then gave up.  To commend their manager, he agreed with our assessment and took the charges off of our bill.

Tuesday evening we visited the Briscoe Western Art Museum.  They have a huge bronze sculpture outside of a cowboy and 3 long horned cattle. Inside there are other beautiful bronzes - my favorite was the one that showed the changing plains with an Indian brave and bison down one side and a cowboy with long horn cattle down the other.  It must have been about 8 feet high and 14 feet wide.  There are 3 levels of art and collectibles.  I think besides the aforementioned bronze, my favorite was the saddle collection.  The silver tool work on some of them was just amazing.

We enjoyed walking around the Riverwalk.  It is many degrees cooler than at street level and shady due to the large cedar and pecan trees.  There must be a thousand ducks or more that live on the river too.  And none of the restaurants lining the Riverwalk have duck on the menu...this is a good thing, I think.

On Wednesday we climbed up out of the Riverwalk on to Alamo Street and went for breakfast at Schilo's Deli on Commerce Street.  Everything there is homemade and from scratch.  The pancakes were fluffy and very tasty.  Mike opted for eggs, French toast and hash browns.  We went back Thursday and I had the biscuits and gravy and then mentally kicked myself for not ordering it on Wednesday too.  After Hella's in Shawnee Hills Ohio, this is the best sausage gravy I have ever eaten...BTW Schilo's biscuits were MUCH better than Hella's!!   So much of downtown San Antonio is old buildings from before Texas joined the Union or as the Germans came to this part of Texas Hill Country.  You find original tile floors, slanting of course, beautiful woodwork, etc. 

Schilo's Restaurant

 



And after breakfast we went to the Alamo.  It is on a beautiful piece of land and seems very peaceful in spite of all the tourists around you.  There are huge pecan trees that must be over 200 years old that spread over the land on both sides of the original building.  For historic value alone, everyone should see this site.  To imagine what is must have been like to be in a hopeless situation, surrounded by the Mexican army in that small space!  And to see the modifications to the buildings from the original church built by the Spanish and the changes by the US Army then realize how close it came to being torn down and removed.  It was awe inspiring for me.

 The Alamo - main building

 

To rest our tired feet, we next took a boat tour of the Riverwalk.  Our guide Herman has been working as a guide/boatman for the past 6 years.  The tour takes you around the Riverwalk, thru two flood gates, around the Convention Center and by the Riverwalk Mall.   

 This is how they aerate the water for the Riverwalk additions.


After the tour we walked back to the mall and then planted our behinds on the deck at Chili's.  I knew we could get a good Presidente Margarita there.  They also had 3 Generations anjeo tequila so we had a shot,  in a highball glass equal to maybe 2.5 to 3 normal shots, and appetizers too.  Those smoked chicken wings were so good, we had 3 orders of them!  While enjoying our repast, we couldn't help but notice many of the male attendees to the AstraZenica Breast Conference going in and out of Hooters next door!  Maybe they were there for medical insight, yeah, that's the explanation.

 

What a shot of 3 Generations tequila in a highball glass looks like! 

After a quiet night, we left San Antonio behind, heading off to Cleveland Texas and our storage space.  Galveston here we come!!

And as you can tell by the smiles, we are enjoying our retirement.
 

 

Arizona...

Bet you are all wondering how laundry is taken care of on the road.  Luckily most hotels now have guest laundry rooms.  We save quarters, have become great fans of the Tide pods and have a large cloth laundry bag we keep into the truck.  Since our goal is to only drive about 350 miles per day, we generally are at our next hotel by 4 PM.  I do laundry first thing.  It is usually just one load as we only carry about 3 or 4 days worth of things in our small suitcases.  When we stay some place long term, I always make sure they have a washer & dryer.

We had a great time in Phoenix with Cousin Tawn.  We spent the day at the Tempe Arts Festival.  There were beautiful sculptures, paintings, ceramics, etc.  My interest was also in the dogs (of course) and we did meet a Yorkie who thought everyone was gathered there just to pet and scratch her, 2 mini dachshunds, 2 Pembroke Corgies, and a bearded dragon named Spike.  We found one piece of glass art that we would have purchased but we don't have a wall to hang it on so it stayed with its creator.  Dinner was at The Soul Café in Scottsdale.  Nice bottle of wine and wonderful food.  I had stuffed rigatoni in green chili which was sooooo yummy.  But the best part of the evening, other than the company, was the live music.  The band that night was a rhythm and blues band which played Motown, Al Jarreau, Marvin Gaye, etc.  Tawn and I sang while we ate and I made Mike get up to dance.  There was a tiny dance floor.  No one was dancing but when they started to play a Etta James' At Last - Mike only does slow dances - I insisted we go dance.  That broke the ice.  For the first dance, to Mike's mortification, we were the only ones on the dance floor.  After that there were about 6 other couples who got up to dance and we all had a great time.  Mike and Tawn  took a spin just a little later in the evening too. 

Then off to Deming New Mexico.  We stopped in Tucson for In-N-Out Burgers and to get gas for the Tundra.  I was watching this guy eating in his jeep at the curb by the gas station and saw a roadrunner (inside orange circle) jump up onto his spare tire.  The roadrunner then jumped up on his roof and explored.  When the guy got out to throw away his trash, the bird didn't even pay any attention to him, even when he got back into the jeep.  The guy was really careful to leave slowly and watched until the bird safely jumped off when the jeep.  Best gas stop so far on this trip!!

 

Next stop Ft. Stockton Texas...

Redondo Beach CA

We have left Northern California and not an moment too soon either.  WE WERE FREEZING!!!!!  This picture was our windshield the morning we left Pilot Hill.  Mike was scraping it with a credit card because 'we will never need a window scraper ever again'.  Yeah, right!  The dog bowl even iced over the last 4 or 5 nights we were there.  This was totally unacceptable!  Off to warmer weather....

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 

 

 

We only drove to Coalinga and stopped at Harris Ranch the first day of travel.  It is one of our "must stop destinations".  We enjoyed a dinner of prime rib and stayed in the Triple Crown wing where we have stayed before.  It was still chilly and I thought I'd be in fleece until May!

 

So we are in Los Angeles - Redondo Beach CA to be exact.  I booked us into a Best Western Plus on Pacific Coast Highway due to price but like that we can get out and walk to restaurants and shops from the hotel.   Last night Mike said "let's turn right and see what we can find for dinner."  What we found was a wonderful little Mexican restaurant called Ortega 120.  We both had excellent food but, best of all, they had a Don Julio anejo tequila we had never tasted.  So we each 'sampled' the Don Julio 70th and were quite happy with it.  It had a vanilla nose and a deep smoky flavor we have come to enjoy from the burned oak interior of the barrels in which it is aged.

 

Our first morning we walked right even further and found the Original Pancake House.  Mike had the fluffiest omelet I have ever seen!  It was at least an inch high.  I had a blueberry waffle and it was as good as those I normally only get in Mexico.  Yes we do enjoy our food and know you want to hear all about it (Ha!).  We had a nice walk on the pier (picture of the pier & waterfront) in the afternoon and enjoyed the heat and sunshine.  It was over 70 so we were in shirt sleeves and shorts.  The water was beautiful and we watched paddle boarders and sail boats along with the fishermen.  Dinner was at Captain Kidd's, as usual.

 

 

 

Our last day in Los Angeles was spent with the office staff (me) and the manufacturing staff (Mike) at Sportsman's Steel in Long Beach.  Mike had ordered a custom made safe for the truck as we left Texas in October and we were to pick it up in Long Beach on our way to Galveston first week of December.  After multiple phone calls with Fernando, the customer service rep, Mike knew we had to drive down to their shop.  There was just too much confusion about design.  We think our order was also lost in the shuffle so these great guys worked with Mike and Sabine (the Tundra's name) all Thursday afternoon to build the safe.  First it was over an inch too high so they cut the back off, re-welded it, re-primed and then painted.  Once the paint dried, it was dry fit into its space, guys made a few minor adjustments, added carpet lining, added the fire seal, and finally the S & G combination lock.  These guys stayed overtime to ensure we had our product exactly the way Mike wanted it!  It's our 4th from them and we highly recommend them for small and large safes.  They also manufacture steel safe rooms and storm shelters any size you wish.

Moving East...look out Phoenix, here we come!

 

Kickin' Back

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted.  We've been busy running up and down "the hill" doing things with family and friends. 

We have a new great-niece Ella Margaret, born November 18th.  Brother-in-law Pat is a year older and so is great-niece Hadley.  We celebrated with a Little Mermaid party for one and went to see the new Hunger Games  movie on release day with the other.  I think you can figure out which celebration was for which person...LOL

What surprises me the most are the changes we see in this area where we lived for almost 20 years.  It is more congested and the traffic on Route 50 and I-80 can be horrendous at times.  We know this because we've been stuck in both.  There is no outer belt in Sacramento and they still really need one!!   CALDOT is doing repair work on Route 49 so there are sometimes 30 minutes wait times to get down into Auburn.  We have discovered Salmon Falls Road down to El Dorado Hills but it is almost as winding as Route 49 to Auburn or Placerville.  Note to self:  next time we will rent a cottage/apartment closer to town.

Speaking of Auburn, we drove down yesterday to walk antique shops and grab some lunch.  Lunch was at the Sierra Café.  It is a senior hang-out and most of the people who came thru the doors are regulars.  The waitresses knew everyone's name and what their standard orders are.  Our lunch was very good too.  All fresh, homemade ingredients for our sandwiches.  The broth for my French Dip sandwich was HEAVENLY - great flavor and very rich!!  Usually you get the canned Campbell's Soup type broth.  Wish we'd found this place a few weeks ago.  I'd have gone there more often than In-N-Out Burger and, just to say how much I liked Sierra Café,  I am obsessed with In-N-Out. 

We thought that with an Old Town and an Downtown area, there would be plenty of places to explore.  BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!!!  Fist note to self:  Don't go on Monday.   Old Town had only 3 stores open and the storefront total wasn't much higher.  There used to be 2 restaurants and maybe 20 shops there.  (If you need to picture the area, watch the movie Phenomenon with John Travolta and Kyra Sedgewick.  It was filmed in Old Town Auburn)   Most of the rest of the buildings have been converted into restaurants and bars over the past 13 years.  The only shops we stopped in were a mineral and gem shop and then a trashy gift shop.  Did not buy a thing.  So on to Downtown which had almost every shop closed with its own glut of restaurants.  No antique shops in site so very disappointing  The only reason to go into Auburn is for the fantastic Vintage Rose Salon & Spa.   It is owned and operated by our niece Crystal. Services include hair, nails, facials, make-up, massages, etc.  It is beautifully decorated and I have loved both of my trips there during this stay.  If you are ever in Auburn CA, go there!!!!!!!!!

Today we are waiting to see how low the snow levels come from the winter storm that just started.  Right now rain is pouring down.  We are at 1150 foot elevation and snow is supposed to only come down to 2000 to 2500 feet.  Fingers crossed because you know my retirement plan was to never experience snow again in this lifetime!  Seeing it from afar is fine as long as I'm in 70+ degrees. 

Guess I'll get back to my Kindle now and finish another book.  Life is good and we are looking forward to our next adventure.  That begins on November 30th when we head out to Galveston Texas for the winter.   Stay tuned.....

Auburn-Foresthill Bridge

We are enjoying ourselves these days.  It takes a while for it to sink in that we don't have to stick to a strict schedule and, if something isn't completed today, well maybe it will be tomorrow, or the day after, etc.  I am just so happy being  back surrounded by valley oaks and all the critters we have seen out in the country.  So far we have seen jack rabbits, a rafter of turkeys, drift of quail, two different herds of deer, one lonely fox and, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, a descent of woodpeckers some scrub jays and a few hummingbirds.  Those darn woodpeckers are trying to punch their way into the attic of the cottage so it can be fun to play with them.  They peck and we open the doors and scare them off.  They sit in the trees until we walk away from the doors and come right back.  This can go on for some time before they wear us out and we give up...they never do!!

OK, show of hands.  How many of you remember Vin Diesel driving off of this bridge at the beginning of the movie  XXX???  Why do I ask?  Because we drive by this almost every time we leave our cottage to go to town or to visit family and friends.  You come around a "kiss my butt" hairpin turn on Route 49 and there she is in all of her glory.  She really is awe inspiring.  She is the Auburn-Foresthill Bridge.

Auburn-Foresthill Bridge
Auburn, California, United States
730 feet high / 223 meters high
862 foot span / 263 meter span

The second highest bridge in the world upon its opening in 1973, the Auburn-Foresthill bridge is still among the 5 highest bridges in the United States.  She was built to cross a reservoir that never ended up being constructed.  The dam was permanently halted due to a series of unforeseen seismic studies, excessive cost overruns and other political and environmental concerns.  So now the folks up in the country around Foresthill have a great bridge to help them avoid all the twists and turns we experience when leaving the Cool/Pilot Hill area.

Day before yesterday with the latest rain storm, she was partially in the clouds with some ground fog  hanging up and down the hillsides.  It looked as if someone had taken cotton balls and stretched them out along the tree tops up the sides of the canyon (or holler as we West Virginians would call it!). 

We were very social this past weekend.  My ex-boss from CalFed had a party for a few folks at this home on Saturday and it was great to reconnect with my past co-workers and see what's been happening in their lives.  Then Sunday we had an early birthday dinner celebration with friends Jim and Jackie.  Jackie and Mike are both November babies.  Jim cooked a wonderful meal of lamb shanks with mashed potatoes and broccolini.  We provided the Ikeda apple pie for dessert.  It really is great to see our Northern California friends and family when we want to and take time to visit rather than the quick trips we've been taking to come here over the past 13 years.  But I miss our friends in Ohio and family in Kentucky and West Virginia.  Goes to show you can't have it all!

The State of Jefferson

No taxation without representation!  There was a revolution fought in the 1770's for this reason and it appears that may be happening for the same reason in Northern California.

You may not have heard of the State of Jefferson.  It could be the 51st state to join the union.  In Northern California there is a movement to separate from the Southern CA and Bay Area. We are on the geographic edge of this new state.  In Lake Tahoe we also saw signs and there were multiples on Interstate 80 as well.  I think this idea is catching on but they will have a fight on their hands.  At this point, the only state to join the Union with permission in its charter to split into 5 states was Texas.

The State of Jefferson is a proposed U.S. state that would span the contiguous, mostly rural area of southern Oregon and northern California, where several attempts to separate from Oregon and California, respectively, have taken place in order to gain statehood.

As of October, 2015, 11 Northern (California) Counties have sent a declaration or have approved to send a declaration to the State of California with their intent of leaving the State and forming the State of Jefferson.

 

We have had a fun week spent with family and exploring casinos in the area.  Last Tuesday we went to Thunder Valley casino and played Progressive Pai Gow Poker.  The casino has a great way to separate you from your money.  In addition to the standard bet to play, they have an Envy bet which pays you when you get a straight, flush, 3 of a kind, 4 of a kind, etc.  And now a Progressive bet for $2 flat fee which pays out different amounts when a player gets a "premium hand" such as a Royal Flush, 7 card straight, etc.  Mike had a Royal Flush and it paid him $1,000 for the progressive bet (fill out that W9 form so the IRS gets its cut!!) and $750 for the envy bet.  Everyone else at the table got $50 for playing the envy bet too!

Thursday we went to Lake Tahoe to drive around the lake.  It looks lovely as ever and the drive down on Rt. 50 into the Tahoe Basin is still a clincher - beautiful and scary at the same time.  Until you get lakeside you can't see how low the water levels have become.  On the north side of the lake all of the docks we saw were out of the water.  We came home thru Trukee/Donner Summit.

Yesterday we went to Ikeda's in Auburn.  We have driven by that store hundreds of times on the way to Reno or to visit Pat and Jeannette.  Recently we saw Ikeda's on Food TV and knew we had to buy an apple pie.  May I say that this is the best pie I have had since  my Aunt Griffie (Martha Ellen) died about 40 years ago.  The crust is crisp and has the most amazing flavor.  The apples are very thinly sliced Granny Smith and Golden Delicious with the perfect amount of cinnamon and sugar.  In spite of the horrid traffic and lack of parking, I believe this may be a frequent stop over the next month.

So much for those 20 pounds to lose by April...sigh

Home at Last

Most of you know I'm a proud West Virginian but my heart belongs to Northern California.  We have been here for over a week and I'm settling down into our routines very quickly.  Welcome Home Bev!!!

We spent the first few days in our favorite west coast 5 Star resort - Jim and Jack's beautiful home  - before our cottage was available for rent.  Last Wednesday we moved to Pilot Hill.  We are only 8 miles or so from Auburn but with two mountain roads,  8% grades, a useless GPS, and oodles of switchbacks, it feels much further.   We are country livin'!

The cottage is perfect for 2 people.  Thank you www.VRBO.com!!  Craig and Jane have created a cozy home.  We have a large great room, nice sized bedroom and a large L-shaped bath with walk in closet.  Our view reminds us of our backyard in our Granite Bay house.  We are surrounded by Valley Oaks and pines.  Most mornings I am watching the squirrels running around chasing each other and burying food for winter.  We also are keeping a close eye on the horse trough to see which birds show up for a drink.  The red headed woodpeckers come in threes and take turns acting as lookout.  Scrub jays just dive right in.  Last night we saw a HUGE jack rabbit and some deer as we were heading home but I'm still waiting for the turkeys to arrive.  (P.S.  Mike dodged a turkey this evening too!  Now my nature fix is complete!!)

Craig and Jane have 2 dogs.  Scout is the Bassett Hound.  He already has us well trained.  He comes to the front door and just stares at us until I get up to take him a cookie.  (Honestly, I always give him two!!).  After I love on him and wipe the sleep out of his eyes, he scams Mike for another cookie before napping on the porch for that long 50 yard walk to the Big House.  He is a sweetie.  Sometimes his sister comes with him and tries to take his cookies as well as eat her own.  Scout never lets a crumb fall out of his mouth. 

This has been a very busy week leading up to #foreveryoungwedding as our niece Crystal married Jon.  The hash tag was for their wedding photos posted on media.  I was lucky enough to have Crystal style my hair at her beautiful salon, we had dinner at Jim & Rhonda, enjoyed a sushi dinner with Pat's family, got invited to the rehearsal lunch at The Chef's Table in Rocklin,  Big family dinner at Jim's when Carol and Rick got to town, WEDDING, and then topped off by Mike's family get together at Pat's on Sunday night. 

We will have 6 more weeks here in No Cal and I'm looking forward to connecting with old friends and spending more time with Mike's family. 

Los Angeles

We had a few days in Los Angeles before heading to Northern California.  I always look forward to being back in LA because we get to spend time with Aunt Liliana and Uncle Richard and visit our old haunts.

Our first night in town was dinner at Captain Kidd's by Redondo Beach Pier.  It is a must whenever we are in town.  Captain Kidd's is a fresh fish market.  They have many choices either local caught or shipped in from Alaska, Mexico and Hawaii.  There are also whole crabs provided with newspaper and a mallet.  The reason we like it is  we get to choose our piece of fish and they cook it for you, served with 2 sides.  Of course we always have to have either smoked fish or shrimp cocktail and a tumbler of wine to go with dinner.  Dining is at picnic tables out back.  Delicious!!!!

Our next day we spent a nice afternoon visiting with Aunt Liliana and Uncle Richard.  Lunch was at a little Thai restaurant in San Pedro and was yummy!  We were able to get together the next afternoon as well.  We have promised to be back in December with lots of family and wedding pictures.

Driving to Sacramento from LA, we stopped at Harris Ranch in Coalinga.  It is our usual stop.  We had a lovely suite with a balcony overlooking their pool and grounds.  I spent part of the afternoon on that balcony and had breakfast coffee there the next morning.  Harris Ranch grows the majority of food prepared in their kitchens and you can also buy their fresh beef in their gift shop.

On to Sacramento!

West Texas and Arizona

West Texas, need I say more???  The towns are few and far between.  Hotels are the same.  Some are quite nice and others you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.  In our Toyota Tundra, we felt right at home as every other vehicle on the road was also a truck!

We spent one night in Deming New Mexico before heading to Arizona.  Since we have already reserved our Tucson property for winter stay in 2016 and 2017,  we decided to do a drive by and check it out.  We were quite proud of ourselves!!  It is a lovely neighborhood and backs up to open desert with trails.  I think we will be quite happy there.  And after a short trip to look at the house we built and never closed on in Sahuarita, it was on to Phoenix.

We had a wonderful time in Phoenix visiting with my cousin Tawn.  So great to see her again and just have time to relax and reconnect.  First a wonderful dinner at Sol in Scottsdale with pink guava Crème Brule - yummy!

Tawn took us to Prescott on Sunday October 4th.  Prescott was the first capital of Arizona.  There were two events going on in town and I truly enjoyed both of them.   Dog Festival on the square!!!!  You should all know how crazy I am about dogs so this was THE PERFECT FESTIVAL for me.  Of course I had to search for the dachshund rescue tent and, sadly, there wasn't one.  Many rescue groups and stores catering to dogs and dog owners were there on the town square.  I did meet one older chubby doxie girl but she was an attendee.  And Mike is happy to report we got out of the festival without adopting a lovely greyhound!!

We walked through some stores, window shopping, and then headed to the Sharlott Hall Museum.  She was a local woman who decided in the early 20th century that the history of Prescott and the surrounding area needed to be preserved.  The museum grounds is the site of the original log cabin which served as Governor's Mansion for the first few governors.  There was also a house in which John Fremont lived when he was governor of Arizona.  That was a surprise as I was not aware of Arizona figuring in his history, being more familiar with his California days.  A small one room schoolhouse (where picture above was taken) was on these grounds and an typical rancher's cabin.  The day we were there the museum was also holding a Folk Music festival.  As we wandered the grounds we heard some wonderful music, much of it reminding me of my childhood in West Virginia.  There is nothing like fiddles and mandolins to bring back those memories.

Governor's Mansion in Prescott AZ

Now we are off to Los Angeles and Sacramento....

Bev's Rules of the Road - First Learning Experience

I thought we'd be free spirits, roaming the US, and stopping when we felt like it.  HA!!  The best laid plans and all that.....

We stopped our first night on the road out of Livingston just east of San Antonio and asked for the senior rate (love those senior discounts!!).  The price we were quoted gave me a heart attack but I thought it was just for one night so $140+ per night was OK since there was a big antique sale in the area and most rooms were booked.  Second night we were in No Man's Land in west Texas and the price was higher!  What really ticked me off was checking on line I found the same room for $80 less per night.

So now we plan our travels and nightly stops. New rules are:

a.  Drive about 350 miles per day
b.  Drive only between 9 AM and 4 PM
c.  Make on-line reservations the night before for a hotel at the next stop and hope for the best.

Next update will be about our weekend  in Phoenix

October 2, 2015 Ft. Stockton Texas

We have become legit Texans.  We are now residents of Livingston Texas and have received our first snail mail there.  Our truck has the proper registration, insurance, and license plates.  We have Texas driver's licenses and are registered to vote in Polk County.  Yep, it is Official!!

Our road to Texas from Kentucky was not uneventful.  I have to say that I wished we'd given ourselves more time to travel as I wanted to stop about every 20 miles between Louisville and Nashville to investigate some point or interest or other, especially the Maker's Mark distillery.  We will take that trip more slowly in April and make those stops.  First night stop in Memphis was an easy drive and we found a Bob Evans for breakfast!

Second day things went well until we were west of Little Rock.  Due to road construction, I-30 was reduced to one lane and a small vehicle had a run in with an 18 wheeler.  We were routed to a side road and then sat at the on-ramp for 2 hours.  Mike worked on his tan and I read.  Back on the road and making good time when the U-Haul trailer blew a tire on Texas 59.  Waited almost 2 hours to get a new tire on Sunday night parked over someone's driveway in rain showers.  Three really nice folks stopped to ask if we needed help, including the owner's of the driveway.  So we didn't get into Livingston until 10:30 PM instead of before 6 PM as planned.

We completed all of the official domicile steps early and decided to continue our trip to Sacramento so we are back on the road.  Today we are in Ft. Stockton Texas and will be going to see original fort buildings from the 1800's before heading off to Deming NM.

The adventure continues.....

We are almost ready to head out to Texas and California.  On Thursday afternoon we will load a small U-Haul with the few things we have left in storage.  Friday we will stop in  KY to see Carol and Rick  on the way south.  Saturday morning we head to Texas to begin the change of domicile process.

Life is Good!!!