Tag Archives: Napa

Napa, Ca

Posted in California, camping, travel, Walking by

We’ve had beautiful weather here with yesterday’s high of a lovely 70 degrees. Everything is blooming and green, very green.

We pulled in around noon and they have it set up differently now, where you go to your spot and then later check-in. Much better than waiting at the front desk. Check-out is 11 am so anyone getting there by 12 can just pull in.

It’s also great having full hookups.

After we set up we headed to Raleys and bought a few extra things. We relaxed for a few hours and then drove to Oxbox Market. We were shocked at how empty it was.

Usually, this is wall-to-wall people. Very strange!

We decided to take our pizza and salad to go.

This is the Live Fire Pizza counter.

All in all a delicious meal.

We listened to jazz in the evening and then went to bed.

Monday was go-around-town day. We started at Models Bakery for the absolutely best croissant this side of Paris. We finally saw where the river trail goes in downtown so we’re doing that today. Then we went to Goodwill but it was closed. So we headed over to Rancho Gordo for the beans and Mexican oregano. If you haven’t cooked with Mexican oregano it is fabulous. Quite different than Italian oregano, more lemony. From there B went to the dispensary to get some Gummie things. After that Trader Joe’s to see if they had those cloth bags that are all the rage(no:( ) But we got some chips and salsa and a Napa wine. I’d have to look at the label to tell you the one.

We had cheese sandwiches for lunch with avocado and tomato. For dinner, we got Webie out and I cooked a few pieces of chicken and a Dr. Praeger burger. We had that with salad.

Today, Tuesday is the Spring Equinox. We plan to walk in downtown Napa and check out shops and just take a look and then walk the river trail.

We haven’t decided on dinner or lunch so we’ll wait and see what strikes us.

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.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude by

I seemed to have pulled out of the chemo moment and feel fine now, so I’m grateful for that. Plus, this is my week off so time to let my body regroup.

I went to the gym yesterday and the library too. I had a few holds to pick up and found a few books in the new section. I should be set for a bit.

Our weather has been picture-perfect but a change is on the way. We may even see rain by the weekend. We still plan on taking Rubi to Napa even if it’s raining. We’ll visit Oxbow for Live Fire Pizza and the spice shop too. I also want to go over to Rancho Gordo for some beans. If you’ve never had Rancho Gordo you really must order from them. He’s done an amazing job preserving many varieties of beans around the world. The Marcella are wonderful as are the cranberry beans. I cook up the whole bag and then freeze left overs.

I’m planning on swimming this morning and then do some things around the house when I get home. I’m refining my cash envelope system and being more specific where I can. Something things, of course, like gas are still with a CC. But using cash for some things keeps me accountable. I’m grateful for the SS we get to pay our bills. There’s not much left over but we manage.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, camping, Flylady, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

A quiet Sunday. We walked and it was lovely in the park. No one there but us and the Canada geese.

I did the bathroom zone and then spent more time(wasted) looking at reviews on meat slicers for bread and whether an electric knife would be better. I’m undecided. I baked another sourdough and this one was some whole wheat. I timed cutting the other boule with my Mercer bread knife, which came in at under 4 minutes. Most of the slices were even. I guess one advantage of the bread slicer is it’s doing the work for you and not your arm.:)

After that, I went to the Anytime fitness gym. It wasn’t too busy today. Today’s Superbowl so maybe lots of people were doing other things.

This is another just the normal stuff week. I always appreciate the ‘normal’ weeks. Next week we’ll be in Napa so that’s exciting. I think we’re going to drive up to St Helena maybe to a winery. It’s only two nights so I know I want to go to the Rancho Gordo bean store and also back to the Public marketplace we liked so much. And there’s the river trail that we only did part of.

This week I’ll do a recheck of our taxes and then get ready to pay the little we owe and send it off. I suppose I could wait but not sure I need to. I’d rather they be done and gone.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, Retirement, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

We got back from Napa around 12noon. A good drive through the valley. Some traffic but nothing unusual for Vacaville or Sacramento. There are crazy drivers everywhere. We got into the driveway with no problem. Going out is another matter and when we left B didn’t pull enough to the left and spent an hour backing up and trying to get it into position. So I left a voice message for our tree guy and we just need to get the tree down. I just don’t see it worth the stress of going out every time. There are only maybe 4-6 inches between the trailer and the tree when it pulls out and it’s way too close. Our next trip out is New Brighton so it needs to be done by then. Another expense:(

Speaking of expenses it’s bi-annual bill time with property tax and Allstate. So they need to be factored in for next month.

Daylight savings started today and we didn’t get out to walk til 7am which is really 6am but that was ok, nobody was there anyway, which is perfect for me.

This is a busier week for me than my normal. I have Dr. Latalo on Thursday and then Friday I have an appt with the audiologist to test hearing. I’m fairly certain that the one time I had water in my ear it affected my eardrum. After that, I started using earplugs. I can hear but it’s not as clear as my right ear. So we’ll see. I plan to swim Tuesday and I need to go to the library too.

I need to tidy up the house although my daughter did a great job keeping up with things. My son helped by doing 3 dinner nights so it evened out. I also need to shop tomorrow for a few things and plan my menus for the week. I have my basic plan but need to see what’s in the freezer to use up.

I started a list of things for Rubi too. The Ikea towels we bought are way too thick and do not dry quickly so I plan to switch to a Turkish towel. We had an extra cooking pot in there I don’t use so that’s going. I have 2 wine glasses we don’t use as we use the same Ikea glasses for juice and or wine/water. We also discovered we didn’t have any laundry soap so I’ll pick up something when I shop.

Here’s where we went for the tasting. Delicious.

They give you a taste of 5 champagnes. It was quite interesting and delicious.

This was our wood-fired four cheese pizza with arugula. The place was called Live Fire Pizza.

Just look at those leopard spots of char on that. Amazing.