Tag Archives: travel

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.

Friday things

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, home stuff, Myeloma, Pantry, Uncategorized by

I met up with two friends from the old FOA library for coffee yesterday. One of the women just lost her husband to Myeloma so she’s adjusting her life. He was just recently diagnosed but wasn’t in good health and I think his body just couldn’t take it. Another friend just had her husband diagnosed with Myeloma too. How weird is that? He’ll be starting Revlimid, dex, and Darzalex fastpro. I think he should do fine but he’s also in his late 70’s so there’s that.

I finished the pressure canned beans and so now I have 3 garbanzos and 3 black beans ready to go. Beans are really easy it’s just the time involved while the pressure canner is going.

I’m not going to the gym today but I might go tomorrow. It just depends on how I feel. Today I’ll do the PT exercises and then just potter around. It feels like I have lots of areas in the house that need some attention. The kitchen pantry shelves need to be sorted and a place for the chip bags. It’s interesting how these little things just are minor irritations and I tend to just look past them until they really bug me and then I do something.

Today is National Pizza Day so either we’ll get a pizza or I’ll make one. It’s a cloudy day with some sunshine coming through. Next week we’re tentatively going to Napa. Hopefully, it’ll be at least sunny. I have 2 weeks till my next Velcade so we could go the following week if that looks better.

Frugal-wise, we haven’t done any lunch dates or coffee for that matter. ( except my coffee with friends). If we do pizza tonight that’ll be takeout. B did go to Costco and got coffee, eggs, etc. I think we’ve been able to keep our grocery bill down because of TJ’s, Costco, and Winco. I haven’t shopped at Safeway in like forever. I have shopped at Holiday simply because it is 2 minutes away and if I need something then the cost of gas has to be figured in too.

I paid for Turbo Tax too. I probably could have found a free platform I like how turbo tax asks the right questions and then it’s all done. It’s worth the $89 for federal taxes.

Travel plans

Posted in California, camping, just keep walking project, travel, Uncategorized by

Now that Christmas and NY are over, it’s back to my regular things.

I’m already planning some trips for us and what I’ve lined up so far is

  • Chico to stay at the Diamond Hotel( a restored old hotel) and dinner at the Red Tavern which is kinda fancy.
  • Yosemite and a stay at the Ahwahnee which is on my bucket list. Plus I’d never go to Yosemite during the tourist season. We did that camping when our kids were young and it was busy but not insanely so as it is now. We’re staying only one night due to the cost factor. It should be about a 3 1/2 hour drive so quite doable.
  • I still need to book the dates for Santa Barbara. I’m thinking early March which should be lovely down there. This will be 3 nights as it is too far just for 2 nights. Although we might just stay 2 nights and then the other night in Monterey as that’s about the half waypoint. ( it is a long drive)
  • April, I’m hoping we can get into New Brighton Stat beach and will look at that this weekend actually. It always books out that time of year so I don’t know yet.
  • Update on New Brighton. Just made a reservation for April so we’re set there. It’s after Easter and there were only a few spots with 3 nights. So I took one.
  • May has nothing, maybe camping?
  • June -nothing yet. Everything at nevada beach is booked:(
  • July we usually stay home
  • August nothing yet

The rest is open and I’ll see where we are.