Category Archives: camping

Friday Things

Posted in budgets, California, camping, cooking, Death, swimming, travel by

I have most of my budget ready for April. Some DMV items (Santa Fe)need to be paid for, and I need to do a smog on the Santa Fe. Also, the next installment for Allstate will come due in April. I ordered a replacement battery for my Dyson 8 from Amazon. I haven’t ordered too much over the last few months, so I’m pleased with that. Amazon is almost a necessity for things like that. I also need to order the porta-potty for camping when we go up to Tahoe because we’ll be in my son’s tent for that trip. There are very nice bathrooms at Nevada Beach, but that doesn’t help me at night 🙁

I plan on doing a freezer challenge to lower food costs. Last month(end of Feb and March through the 25th), came in right under $400. That includes a Costco shop, which usually (always) includes some stock-up items. So overall, I’m pleased.

The send Dad off in New Brighton ended up being a little spendy, but not bad considering the room didn’t have a microwave to heat food up. I used Starbucks GC when I could, and that saved some money. My daughter also paid for a few things. The biggest expense is a hotel room, of course. That’s one reason I loved Rubi because over the course of the time we traveled, staying in Rubi covered the cost of the RV vs hotels. Well, sadly, that is not my life now. Of course, I still need to sell Rubi and just haven’t bothered yet, especially since my son stays out there when he is here.

I’m already checking on hotels in Napa for a one-nighter. I wish I could stay at the Fairgrounds campground that B and I loved so much, but it’s not possible. I found a very nice room for around $200, and it does have a mini kitchen and a seating area, which is the one thing I would have liked in the other room. My daughter works T-F, so it has to be a Sunday night. I’ll have to see whether I can swing it even with it going on a card with the other things I have this month.

We have a change in the weather coming next week, cooler and rain. This has been such an early spring.

I plan on going to the pool this morning if I can get going. Since lap swimming ends at 9:15, I need to be there earlier. I’ll see how I feel by 7:30. Yesterday, I washed sheets and pulled out my summer curtains to iron. I also made up some chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce. That used up some frozen chicken. Then I pulled some black beans that had been frozen in the Souper cubes and heated them up. Very tasty.

My daughter has been weed-eating as everything is growing so fast. Last year, with Barclay in hospice, the weeds took over, and I had to hire someone to come and do it because they were out of control. This year, she’s keeping up on it. She also planted the 2 lavender plants I got at Costco. I don’t do much in the yard these days, but I love sitting out every day looking around at how beautiful the yard is and how fortunate we are to live here.

There’s Chester checking things out and the wisteria.

Hello Ocean!

Posted in California, camping, cancer, Death, husband, travel by

We had a great trip to Santa Cruz, Capitola, and Aptos. Since we left on Sunday, traffic was light and reasonable even through San Jose.

We did get there almost exactly as I planned at 12. From there, we went straight to Gayles for sandwiches and then down to New Brighton State Park. It was crazy busy, but we expected that as it was Sunday. After a few hours, we checked into the hotel, which was in Aptos. Quite nice, although a few things could have been better, but that’s nitpicking a little. The beds were comfortable and the location great. I rested up for a bit, and then we went to a Mexican restaurant in Aptos. That too was busy, but we were seated right away and had delicious food. The servings were huge, and since we couldn’t reheat them, we had to leave the leftovers. Before we went to the restaurant, we went to Sunset State Beach, and there were benches that I could sit on, and my daughter went down the stairs to the beach and walked. The third picture is the view from the upper parking lot where the benches were.

The next morning, we went back to New Brighton, and Dad had his Bon Voyage. My daughter took him out to a tide pool, and he washed away with the waves. I think he would have liked that.

We got coffee and breakfast next back at Gayles. I love Gayles. It is the primo cafe with the absolutely best food and pastries.

After we finished, we went to Santa Cruz and filled up with gas at the Costco. Then we went out to the lighthouse and walked the trail some.

The road in front of the lighthouse goes on to meet Natural Bridges State Park. It’s maybe a 3-mile stretch that goes along the coastline. We parked and took our camp chairs down to the ocean and chilled for a few hours.

When we were ready for lunch, we walked back up to the picnic tables and ate there. We wanted to go to the gift shop there, so we did, and I bought some cute Monarch Butterfly pins. Natural Bridges is one of the migratory stops for the Monarchs. We didn’t see any outside, as it might have been just a bit late for them. All in all a great day.

The hotel had a lovely outside dining area with a koi pond, so we had a light dinner there. Back in the room, I watched some Young Sherlock on my MacBook Air.

The next morning, we checked out and then got coffees and breakfast things from Starbucks and went back to Sunset Beach and ate there. This time, we drove down to the lower area and parked. The ocean is right there in the lower area. This is a very popular beach because it is quite flat and goes on forever, so people can walk quite far. The one picture above is the old ship that has been there a long time.

We had a good drive home without any delays. Traffic going in the opposite direction was insane, with stop-and-go for miles. We were glad we were going in our direction.

So, thankful we could do this and send B off. I still need to tally up what we spent on food and misc. After doing this trip, I feel pretty sure I don’t want to pull anything, even a tent trailer, so that makes things a little clearer. I’m still processing, but that seems to be the direction I’m going in. Obviously, if I had money, I’d buy a used Sprinter van, but right now that’s not affordable for me. So the process keeps going on.

Happy Spring!

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cooking, swimming by

Spring is officially here, and it sure is where I live. Northern California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, is a wonderful place to live. All around the oak trees are blooming, daffodils are up, my wisteria is just starting to break out.

I’ve had a productive couple of days. I did go to the pool yesterday, and it was nice. I shared a lane, but the pool was not overly busy, which is always a plus.

From there, I went back to Costco to get more lavender plants, alas, they were all sold out. I stood there for a minute, wondering how they sold out in 2 days. So, I went and picked a few bottles of Sauvignon, a pair of workout leggings, and some salsa and hummus. I was back home by 10, so that was good. After I rested up, I tidied the house and then decided to tackle the outside windows.

I am very fussy about clean windows. maybe a little OC, really. I wash the inside windows in every zone when it comes up. So the outside ones are harder for me to do. I use Windex Outdoor Spray, which you attach to a hose, and it has a clean, rinse, and off setting. It’s quite easy once you get the hose untangled and ready to use. So I got them all done. I had to switch hoses 3 times, and that is probably the most time involved. I didn’t do my daughter’s room as her windows were open and she has the catio open to one of her windows. I’ll let her know she needs to close it up and do them next week. I felt really good about getting that crossed off my list.

Aftre regrouping I made some pizza dough using my tried and true recipe.

I made half the recipe for 2 dough balls. It comes out perfect every time. I’ll put the other one in the freezer unless my son wants it for tomorrow night. He’ll be staying here to take care of the kitties. Thankfully, they are all over their colds.

Today, I plan on getting the camp chairs in the car and getting B’s Mac Air in a travel bag to take with me. My MacBook died a while back, but this is newer and nicer. I don’t use it at home, though, since I have the new Mac my daughter bought me. I plan on leaving by 9am, and traveling on Sunday is always my preference since there is usually less traffic.

I’ll pack up my meds, clothes, and CPAP tomorrow and then be ready to go.

Next week, my daughter is on Spring break from the college, so I’m hoping we can go check out the tent trailer rental and see if it’s something we’re interested in. I don’t think we’ll know till we see it. I don’t think that place does trade-ins, but where we bought Rubi does, so we may try to fit that in as well. That’s farther down near Sacramento.

I’ve been reading some Agatha Christie books we got at the pet bookstore. She was such an amazing writer. I’m enjoying them and may pop out today to go see if there are any more there. Plus, I need some garden soil to repot some things. Yesterday at Costco, I tried to get the bag there, but it was way too heavy for me. Our nursery is right across the street from the bookstore. So convenient.

Thankful Thursday and a little sad.

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer by

Today marks 9 months since Barclay died. I miss him every day. When I look at my photos from Amazon, I get teary-eyed at how much fun we had and what a good life we had, traveling, doing stuff, etc. Well, I am thankful we had that time, and I am also grateful he didn’t have to suffer anymore.

I had an ok walk this morning. There was a class going on, which I thought was odd, but what do I know? It was still an ok walk.

Today I’m going into town to pick up my $75 dollar prescription, which I am not thankful that it is that expensive, but I can still afford it. I also plan to go to the bookstore as I have a bag of books to drop off.

I am thankful for our nice weather, although it is strange to be so warm so early. I’ve heard people wondering if the summer is going to be brutal. Who knows ??

I did manage Costco yesterday and even picked up 2 lavender plants for the front yard. Costco has the best prices on plants. I was tempted to get a hydrangea, but the cart was full of lavender plants. I did buy the champagne to celebrate Barclay’s life when we go to New Brighton. It was one of our favorite places, and I miss camping there. We won’t be camping, obviously, but we will go down to the beach area and bring our chairs to sit for a while.

Is there something in your life you can’t do anymore for one reason or another? How did you adjust?

Menu Monday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cooking, meal planning, travel by

Last night we had tofu burgers. Nothing fancy, just grilled tofu with condiments.

Tonight I have some asparagus to use up, so I’ll find something to pair with that. I don’t have anything defrosted for the week, so I’ll look in the freezer and see what to pull out. I decided on a pasta with lemony asparagus. That sounds springy!

Tuesday is usually Mexican-themed. I have beans I can defrost and corn chips, so I may make a platter of nachos. I have avocados and sour cream too.

Wednesday- If I defrost some chicken, I’ll do that on the BBQ grill and probably do enough for leftovers.

Thursday-leftover chicken. Maybe a cobb salad. I don’t have any bacon, but I can pick up some at the store.

Friday- Last week, I made a sourdough discard pizza dough for the pizza, and didn’t like it. We might get a takeout.

Saturday?? TBD

Then on Sunday, we’ll be heading down to Capitola, so that will involve eating out. Whenever Barclay and I went camping at New Brighton, we just went to the store and bought what we needed to make in camp. Since we’re not camping, we’ll need to figure out something.

Today is my dentist appt for a cleaning, and then I will do a few errands in town. I don’t plan on going to Roseville today, probably tomorrow.

A few odds and ends

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cash envelopes, home stuff, Uncategorized by

Yesterday, I went to the gym and the library. I got a couple of books to read. I haven’t started them yet, so I can’t say yet, but I’ll give them a try. Then I went over to Winco and did a small shop. I wanted some navy beans and molasses to make some Maine Beans from a cookbook I have. I also got some salad mix and a few other salad things.

Then I came straight home. Today, I’m staying home since tomorrow I need to go to Roseville for infusion. I want to wash the cat blankets and do a few odds and ends of tidying. Plus, I need to mop the floors. I’ve been using the iRobot vacuum almost daily, and it does a great job. But I still need to mop. So that’s on the agenda.

Tomorrow, after infusion, I plan to go to Costco, mostly to get a few things but to cash my rewards. It’s not a lot, but it’s something, and then I don’t need to go get extra cash. I still need to fill some envelopes, but I generally don’t have too much extra to do that. Some envelopes are more important than others, such as fun vs auto maintenance. So I’ll keep adding what I can to the important ones.

I had a nice visit with my son yesterday as he came up after work. He has a regional meeting in Chico today and tomorrow, so he’ll be gone. He expressed some interest in taking the motorcycle class at Sierra College, and then he could use the Triumph. In reality, he could just have it, and I’d sign it over. Although the insurance would probably be higher. So it’s something to consider. Although I’d worry about accidents because with motorcycles, 99% of the time, it is other drivers.

We did chat about the whole camping thing. He doesn’t see the van idea working, and probably he’s right. I think after my daughter and I go down to Santa Cruz at the end of the month and I get to go to New Brighton Beach, I’ll be able to judge whether hotels may be what I do 3-4 times a year. I would like to plan some longer trips that Barclay and I never got to, and one was going over to the Oregon coast. So if we do hotels, in a way that would be easier than trailering. I guess I still miss the whole experience of sleeping in my own bed, cooking my own food, etc. Plus, waking up at a campground is very different than waking up in a hotel. Adjustments, changes, and being open are probably what I need to focus on.

Friday things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, home improvement, home stuff, velcade by

I didn’t post anything yesterday as I had my Velcade shot, then went to Winco, and then met up with my library friends for coffee. So by the time I came home, I wasn’t into it. I did get my sourdough started, did the folds and turns, and got to bulk fermentation. So it’s in the fridge doing a cold rise.

I had a nice visit with my friends, three of them are widows, so they understand. One of them just got a mammogram with something showing, so that is causing a lot of stress and anxiety. Why is it always something? One of them is quite wealthy and was showing us her brand new Honda CR-V. I’m thinking nice, gee, I just wish I had some extra money to pay my annual bills.

I lay down for a while after I took Dex and rested. I had some defrosted chicken to use up, so I made us a chicken curry with noodles. I used some of a recipe from ATK’s Easy Meal Cookbook, but I didn’t have garam masala, so I just used other spices like curry, ginger powder, and cumin. It came out very tasty. There’s some left over for lunch or another dinner.

After reading that Bezos fired all those WP employees, I checked whether I had cancelled my subscription, and I had, but it doesn’t go into effect till April. I read a few articles, both in the Atlantic and the NYT, about how this is a tragic thing for the WP and very sad too. I haven’t ordered from Amazon in a while, but I do have some camping stuff to get for our one night out in Tahoe in June. It’s only a night, but I still need a porta-potty and porta potty tent. I think my son said he had one, so I’ll check. Hindsight is always 20/20, right? WE had just bought a deluxe porta-potty for the tent trailer right before we sold it. Since we now had Rubi, we didn’t need it. Ha! Oh well, that’s just the way it goes. There are bathrooms at Nevada Beach, which are quite nice, but at night, I’m not trekking to a bathroom to go pee. 🙁

Since today is a home day, I’ll probably keep it low-key till the dex wears off. I’ll bake the bread and tidy up. I did get out my low platform massage table to do some PT, so I’ll set that up and do a few. I wish I had room to leave it up, but in our very small house, there isn’t an extra place for it.

I started painting some trim on the house while it was so nice out, but once it was done, I could see that the paint had lost some color, as it is over 5 years old. So I need to get the color chip and get a fresh quart. I won’t do that today as I don’t drive on dex but maybe tomorrow if I can find it. Ace said they can match it, as it is a Kelly Moore paint, and they went out of business. Then I can finish some touch-ups.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cash envelopes, husband, travel by

Yesterday, I went to the gym and the library for my holds. I wanted to get that chair Pilates Yoga book again and start a small routine. I’ll probably end up buying the book, but for now I can use the library’s. I wanted to get an IN and Out burger but it was too early so I came home and had homemade sourdough bread with left over chicken.

I also checked DVDs in the Friends of the Library area and found 2 Blu-rays to replace the regular DVDs, so that was a win at $6.00.

I used up the rest of the Costco chicken. I made 4 Souper Cubes of stuffing and chicken, and put some gravy on top. They’re in the freezer, and later today I’ll pop them out and put them in Ziploc bags. So that’s 4 future meals for us.

I returned the sweat pants to Costco and then went in and spent $180, but $45 of that was our favorite wine, Kendall-Jackson Reserve. And I got the Kombucha for my daughter, so the food was probably closer to $125. Oh, and I had picked up the rotisserie chicken.

Today, I need to go get cat food in Auburn, so I’m not sure if I’ll go down to Roseville or not. If I don’t go, that saves gas for next week. I don’t need any groceries( I think). I should probably check the salad stuff. The Chef Preserve is working well for veggies, as long as I remember to use them. 🙂 Refrigerator blindness is real!

I’m starting taxes and still need one bank thing. Our taxes are pretty straightforward, and I always use TurboTax. When I started it a bit ago, I had to figure out how to change it so I would be the primary taxpayer, as Barclay had always been before. Fortunately, TurboTax told me exactly how to change it, so that’s all set. I just need the final numbers from the bank and SS. I hope by next week I can wrap it up.

The VW insurance came in, and I need to pay my daughter for that. The VW is in her name, so she pays it, and then I reimburse her. I had a cash envelope for it, but never put $ in it as I had too many other bills to take care of. I guess if we keep it for another year, it’s worth it for now. I only drive the VW to Auburn for errands, so technically I could get rid of it. But as long as it’s working, I think we’ll keep it, but I need to get that envelope going for next year.

I was reading another blog I like, ( My Tireless Retirement), and she was talking about buying a van to go camping in. One that the seats go flat, that she could put a mattress in there and sleep in it. I got to thinking that maybe we could do that. Get like a Honda Odyssey. Our Santa Fe is getting up there in miles, so that could be something to think about. Gee, I loved our Dodge Caravan. It was the best thing we did back then, along with our tent trailer. We took the kids out camping all the time. And we traveled in the Caravan to Canada and lots of places. It was a game-changer, not to mention ferrying homeschooled kids everywhere.

So maybe I should go look at one to see if that would work for me. It’s not like I’m looking to travel the country; I just want to do some of the things Barclay and I did together. So back to the drawing board. 🙂

Menu Monday and a BIG shout out to Frugal Girl!!

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, cooking, Death, home stuff, Lake tahoe, travel, Uncategorized, velcade by

Frugal Girl has a huge blog following and deservedly so. But she never speaks of politics till now, and I am very Thrilled she has stood up and spoken out against the horrors of this administration, especially with the murder of Alex Pretti, a fellow nurse. I’m sure it was difficult for her to do, especially as she is an evangelical Christian. Although we are as far apart as can be on religion, I respect her immensely for all she has gone through and accomplished. She is an exceptional person, and thank you, Kristen, for using your voice.

I’m just a small blogger, but I will not shy away from speaking up about the wrongs this administration is doing. AND THE LIES!! You can see with your own eyes what went down, and to have them disgrace a wonderful human being is sickening. May Karma catch up to them in the end.

On to mudane things in my life.

The menu changed up a bit as one night we had ramen because we felt like it.

Last night I baked some chicken, and we had that with baked butternut squash and salad.

Monday- I think I’ll try to do the baked fish with something. I really want to empty out the small refrigerator freezer, and the fish is in there.

Tuesday- Mexican something. I have beans frozen, so I could do beans and something. I don’t have any enchiladas, but I could buy some if I get to Winco. We do love Amy’s cheese enchiladas.

Wednesday- I have some Trader Joe’s orange chicken to use up, and I could make jasmine rice to go with it.

Thursday- ?? Maybe a curry, as I have tofu to use. We really like tofu curry with rice.

Friday- Pizza of some sort. We finished up the last Costco one for lunch the other day, and it was pretty bad, so I won’t buy them again. The frozen pizza that we liked the best was Home Run Chicago Pizza, and I think only Safeway carries that.

Saturday-? TBD

After e-messaging my oncologist, Dr. Laptalo, he suggested half an Imodium for the IBS. So I’ve been doing that, and so far it’s been fine. It’s been about a week with no issues, so I’m happy about that. I went to the gym and library the other day, and no surprises. I’m not sure what triggered it, but I think the body remembers certain things, and with the Velcade, it responded to that. Dr. L thought it could have been Velcade, as the timing was right. I don’t know, and all I want is not be ‘surprised’. I’m planning on going to the pool this week at least once, so that will be sort of my marker. I overcame this before, and I will overcome it again.

I’ve had zero luck with getting a spot at Nevada Beach. My only theory is that because it is such a beautiful camping spot on Lake Tahoe and there are so few spots, getting one is getting harder. Reservations are now into the end of July, and I think I’ll skip those for now. Tahoe in the summer is not my favorite, as it is overrun by tourists.

And I’m still not sure what I would camp in. I still have Rubi, but I will try to sell it this spring. I do have the one night booked at Tahoe in June, but I can handle one night in a tent. Any more than that, I doubt I’d want to do. This probably is one of the hardest for me to accept with Barclay gone, that certain things, like camping, can’t be the same. The question is still, how do I want to go forward?

Well, this has gotten quite long, so that’s it for now.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, bread, California, camping, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

I’m thankful to be walking, even if it’s not what I used to do. I guess age catches up to us in spite of all that we do to stay healthy and active. I’ve always exercised and eaten mostly vegetarian my whole life, and still, things creep in. Until I get moving in the morning, I am pretty stiff but then my joints loosen up after walking around.

I am thankful that adjusting to my CPAP was so easy. As resistant as I was, it is a good thing. I’ve had zero sleep disturbances, so I guess it’s doing what it is supposed to do. I still need to buy a battery pack if I camp.( questionable at this point).

I’m grateful for the beautiful weather we’ve had with mild temperatures. Also, it’s getting light early again, and sunset is later; there’s a lot more light. These are the times I miss Barclay when we would start to sit out in the afternoon with our wine and talk about the day, or camping, or whatever. 🙁

Today, I plan on going to the library and the gym for a short workout. I want to get home and bake the sourdough loaf I have in the fridge.