Tag Archives: California

Friday things

Posted in budgeting, California, camping, cancer, frugalism, home stuff, Lake tahoe, library, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

Frugal-wise all pretty good. After infusion yesterday, I went to the nearby Noah’s Bagels and bought 6 plus a schmear. Most mornings we like a bagel but it’s usually Costco’s or Trader Joe’s. This was a nice treat.

I went to Trader Joe’s and spent close to $200. There was a case of wine in there and the rest was food. That’s a lot of meals. Since we’ll be gone next week there won’t be any shopping except at the Safeway in Tahoe in case we need something. I do need to buy coffee at Starbucks because I’m not going to go in to Costco before Memorial Day. Our new Costco just opened yesterday and I’m sure it was a mad house. We will be going to this new one from now on as it is closer to us so that’ll be nice.

My daughter asked for a Nutribullet for her birthday and Costo had the Ultra one on sale. She likes to do smoothies and this one does ice and veggies. We have a Vitamix but sometimes it’s just too bulky to get out. I don’t keep things like that on our counter so it’s in one of my Heywoods. On our counters I only keep the toaster oven, my kitchen aid mixer and, the Brita water pitcher. Maybe I’ll see if my son wants it for his new apartment.

I was planning on swimming this morning as it’s my first time off Dex(whoo hoo) after Velcade, but since I’ve been out 3 days in a row, I think I’ll skip it. That does mean no swimming till after we’re back so that’ll end up over a week. Sometimes, you just have to call it. I did go to the gym and library after Velcade so that took some time. I only did a 20 minute weight workout but that was good enough.

In Tahoe, we’ll go to the gym once and do at least that workout plus we walk a lot when we’re there.

Last night I BBQed that trip tip and it was good. We’re not big meat eaters but this was a nice small piece and the flavor was good. B had roasted veggies, beans, tofu and, coleslaw. Tonight is a pizza night, no take out just a Trader Joe’s dough and I’ll do some toppings.

Overall, not a spendy week and next week will also be low spend in Tahoe.

So far this morning I feel good and my blood pressure is good too. I just hope being off dex doesn’t negatively impact my numbers but for now, hurray for not feeling crazy this morning. Since I’m home this morning, I will do some tidying up and I need to dust. The pine pollen is everywhere! I’m not planning on any bread making or batch cooking. Just using up what we’ve got.

Thankful Thursday and Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, camping, Gratitude, home stuff, swimming, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

I’m certainly thankful we had an uneventful and safe trip down here to Capitola. Overall traffic wasn’t too bad even through San Jose. We arrived to find traffic though completely backed up going into Capitola. So from Santa Cruz to New Brighton, it took forever to go 2 miles due to construction.

We made it still a little after one only to be told the new regulations were no checking in before 2pm. I told the guy( park worker) that we had always been able to check in early. His response was so rude, he turned to get our plate # and said” Why are people always lying to me”. I was pretty shocked. So we drove down to the beach parking and waited till 2pm. Then we, along with 6 other RVs, checked in and then we still had to wait for RVs to back into spots. Terrible system and not efficient.

Regardless, I’m thankful it was a beautiful day and we got set up and relaxed.

We love our little ‘Rubi’. And I’m so grateful trailering has gone easy and we have a bathroom.

We headed out on Tuesday to go to Gayle’s for a croissant and coffee. I also bought a loaf of their Jewish rye bread which is one of my favorite. Then we went to the local Anytime gym for a workout. I’m grateful it is free to us and gives us a chance to strengthen our muscles. From there we headed to Trader Joe’s in Capitola, not Santa Cruz. We were surprised there was one on this side of Santa Cruz and boy, was it nice. A really beautiful store, big and well laid out as most Trader Joe’s are. We loaded up on food, a plant for outside Rubi, and some candles I’ve been wanting. Not too frugal but not much more than a regular weekly shop. Overall, a fun morning. Then we came back to camp and just relaxed.

Wednesday we discovered the Simpkins Swim Center. Oh my, it was wonderful. I was really ecstatic to swim. It’s a huge outdoor pool heated. What a find. I’m so grateful for cities that provide these amazing places. We paid $5.00 to swim.

Overall, we have been frugal where we can. We decided to do a day trip up to Half Moon Bay which is about an hour from here. We’ve actually never seen that part of Hwy 1. It’s quite beautiful with loads of State Beaches along the way. We had a nice lunch at the very well-known fish place, Sam’s. It was good but not as good as Fishetarian in Bodega Bay. From there we just took our time getting back to Capitola and once again hit the traffic snarl in Capitola.

We’ve kept our meals simple. Last night we had scrambled Mexican tofu on tortillas with salad. I’m not sure what we’ll do tonight but I’d like to get a pizza night in.

Sadly, on the home front, we had raccoons get 2 chickens because no one was home. They were in their yard but it wasn’t closed so there it is. Raccoons are always looking for opportunities and there it was. I feel really bad for the girls because we have been so careful and here it is just one night and this happens. My daughter who was working late just missed getting them in. She got home right after and I’m sure felt awful. Well, we know we don’t want chickens again but still it makes me sad.

This is Half Moon Bay. You can see that rock barrier if you look carefully. There were numerous ones on each side of the Bay.

Today, we’re going to walk and then go over to Gayles for a bit. The weather has been picture perfect. Today though, we’re in for a 20 degree drop in temperature and some rain overnight.

I don’t think we’ll go back to the pool as we’re both a little tired, so a day to rest sounds good.

Lake Tahoe in early April

Posted in Lake tahoe, travel by

We decided if we wanted to see Tahoe before all the snow melted we’d better get a move on. So off we went and it was really great.

We were not disappointed. Tahoe has a.lot.of .snow. still. It was very encouraging for the snowpack. We decided to head to Tahoe City to go to Tahoe House Bakery. They have the best coffee in the area. The pastries are delicious plus their breads and bagels and ready-made meals are quite nice. Pricey, but worth it. It was pretty empty as were the main roads. Tahoe, off-season is really a lovely place to be. I-80 was also pretty empty of traffic except for lots of semis. ( going too fast).

From there, we decided to go around the lake by way of Tahoe City, Carnelian Bay and basically, it’s the north side of the lake.

The story behind me standing with my Louie is many years ago we took this exact same picture with my old Louie. That’s the one that was stolen in the smash and grab. So for the insurance company to pay me for the loss, I had to have a picture of me with my LV and that was the one. So that’s why we were taking this picture.

From the lakeside, which is in Kings Beach, we headed down to Incline so B could go to Nuleaf for some gummy things. He picked up a tin of that. Again, hardly any traffic at all through Incline, which was pretty f*cking amazing. We thought of going down to Sand Harbor and then walking on the new lake trail but decided not to. Maybe next time.

I wanted to get a light lunch out so we headed back to Kings Beach to White Cap Pizza. It was busy with locals and a few tourists but not many. I had high hopes for the pizza and it fit some of my expectations. It was very thin crusted and the ratio of cheese to sauce was good. But the dough had no flavor as it seemed the cook had forgotten to add salt. A big no-no if you’re making pizza dough or even bread. Then the sauce was pretty flavorless too. The crust had been cooked a little too long and was slightly burnt , not charred which is totally acceptable, but more like burnt. So I’d only give it a 2 out 5. Still, we had a nice time there and I’m glad we went.

This was looking out at the patio seating.

We headed for home and unfortunately, a big rig had gone over one of the embankments so traffic was backed up. Trucks go too fast down these big inclines and lose control. We were not in a hurry so for us it was fine. After that traffic again was very light and at times, we had no one behind us or ahead. So amazing.

All in all a fun date day and well worth it.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, Gardening, travel by

We are almost ready to hit the road to Napa. We’ll leave around 10ish. It’s only an hour and a half trailering. If you were just driving maybe a little over an hour. I kind of wish we had thought to check out what was available down in Half Moon Bay as that’s a destination we’ve had in mind for a while. If I remember, it’s mostly private RV parks but that’s what we’re looking for with full hookups. Plus from Napa, it’s maybe 2 more hours. Well, maybe next time.

I’ve got all the food we’re bringing the trailer and it’s pretty simple. We’ll do at least one pizza, and maybe something Mexican but other than that just a pastry at Model’s. I think we’ll go into Raleys or Safeway and buy a few Napa Valley wines to have, something we don’t usually have.

I checked camping in September at Nevada Beach and it’s all booked till @ September 22. So that means we need to be on the computers on that day to get that week. I’m guessing it’s going to take 2 or 3 tries before we get something. It’s not easy getting camping spots these days that’s for sure.

We don’t have any big plans in Napa but we did think we’d take a drive up toward Yountville. Last time we drove the other side of the valley up to Calistoga. Yountville is where the famous French Laundry is located.

The weather has definitely turned to spring. Everything is so green! Soon it’ll be gardening time.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, swimming, Uncategorized by

We were both on Reserve America at 6:59 to get a spot in Tahoe. Barclay won the lottery and got spot 12 which has a nice view of Lake Tahoe!!! I didn’t get the one I wanted but since we got one, it’s all good. That takes care of June camping. We might still try for something else but not Tahoe. Tahoe in July and August is not where I want to be. Too many people!!!

My swim yesterday was really nice. The pool was surprisingly empty and I got the lane near the steps, which right now with my knee is good. The water was also really nice. I may have overdone it as I felt pretty wiped out when I got home. 😦

On the agenda for today is cooking up some baby potatoes I have(from Costco), baking a sweet potato, and making some brown rice for the week. I still plan on using pantry items this week. Last night we had one of the quarts of the lentil soup I pressure canned and it was delicious. I’m also thawing the Diestal turkey I have from last year and I will roast that in a few days. I wanted that out of the freezer and cooked. Dinners will be sliced turkey, leftovers, soup and then I’ll make some broth.

That’s ice on the fish pond!!

Gus looking cute for Christmas!! That’s Bean getting squished behind him.

Giant Gus is outside on a leash which is a little small for him!

Tomorrow I plan to go to the library and hit the gym too.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, cooking, pets, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I had a nice walk starting at 5:30 am. Of course, HE was there, but no matter, I just ignore him and carry on. Although I will say, since I’ve been using my walking pole( for added stability) he stays to the right on the path, so that’s a good thing. I’m still debating my timing. Sunrise is 5:53 am so getting there at 5:30 is fine. But soon it will be getting darker as sunrise gets later. Not sure what I’ll do but I think thru July this will work out ok.

Today the big missionis to go to Costco. I’m hoping it’s not insane like the one Sunday we tried. Perhaps the hoarders are done with their hoarding food and non food and it’ll be a regular Sunday which is usually pretty mellow especially since all the church christians are not there. It looks like our last trip/shopping there was June 8th. So that’s about right with trying to go every 6-8 weeks. Coffee is on sale so we’ll get enough for 2 months. I don’t need any meat so really it’s the basics like bread, cheese, coffee, butter, bagels ,cereal, and that kind of stuff.

I used some of the veggies from the farm stand to make a summer ratatouille. I used the zucchini, onions, our bell peppers and tomatoes. I served it over some cheese tortellini I had in the freezer. It was pretty tasty. So far on the Ooni pizza oven, I’ve made 22 pizzas. So I need 8 more and the Ooni will have paid for it self in how much take out pizza would have been for a comparable 12″ wood fired pizza.

the radishes were quite excellent and so were the cherry tomatoes.

This week Flylady is in the bedroom. Sunday is sheet day so I’m putting those in the washer and then we will line dry them. I am still loving linen sheets and don’t think I would ever go back to cotton. I may need to buy another set though as my winter ones are in the RV. I suppose I could just take them off for the winter but I’ll wait and see.

I have my monthly labs tomorrow. I’m not too concerned yet as it’s only been a month or so since I finished Velcade but who knows? right? My doctor is in Europe for 2 weeks so I won’t even be able to get my results although I may call down and talk to the nurse. Then I also am picking up my new glasses which is really not new since I’m using my old frames. I love the Lindberg frames and they are uber expensive so I thought since they are exactly what I want rimless and a lovely color I’d use them. I was planning on getting my other pair done too but that would add on another $500 to my bill. The one’s I’m picking up are partly covered by our vision plan but the second pair wouldn’t be . It would just be OP.

It has been so great not to have weekly appts at the infusion center. Not that it was that much trouble but it’s still nice. Plus, overall I’m feeling better with the drugs coming out of my system. So a win-win.

Here’s a fun blast from the past. I have this print on our living room wall.

And here’s Barclay in front of his 1967 VW( that I wish we had never sold)

This was probably 1980. That’s Jason our first child. We loved that dog and he lived to be 15 and was the sweetest dog ever. The print is from a photo and then my son had it done that way with California on the print.

Those were the good ole days:)