We put "Road Trip" in quotes, because we want to do something a bit different this time. We are going to go somewhere and stay.
The place we've picked as our base of operations is one of our favorite places in California, Twain Harte. We'll be staying at Gables Cedar Creek Inn (another of our favorite places). Our accomodations are a one-room log cabin, with kitchen, nestled in the redwoods.
From base we'll make excursions to places like Columbia, Jamestown, Mark Twain's cabin on Jackass Hill and even the Ironstone Winery in Murphys to see (and hopefully hear) the 1927 Robert Morton Theater Pipe organ which was rescued from the Alhambra Theater.
This trip will include a mix of video and still images. We'll try to come up with another contest for those folks goofy enough to follow us on our journey.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Time for a Little Pampering
trying valiantly to fight off a cold? Today I made the momentous
decision to use the fancy fizzy bath cupcake that my favorite daughter
gave me for Mother's Day. So here's a still photo and a mini-movie
documenting the occasion. And, yes, I did feel pampered.
I would be interested to hear what some of you do to pamper yourselves...
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Mr and Mrs Santa with Amber, Owen and Isaac
at the Morgan Hill Community Center on December 17th, 2009. A good
time was had by all: games, face painting, balloon animals, Christmas
songs and candy canes.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Day 14 - Wrapup and Contest Results
[Road Trip Wrapup] Well, it's over. Home safely.
Wilma did a great job! We really exercised her Nav system finding vets, restaurants, lodging, coffee, gas stations. It's such useful tool. Just can't imagine having a vehicle without one if you ever even leave your neighborhood. One thing learned was to NOT set the navigation to "Most Direct Route" unless you're willing to go over some really bad roads. We learned that at Canyon de Chelly. Besides the Nav system we found it very useful to have a road atlas on board. Linda keeps it in her lap turned to the appropriate page. It helps keep her entertained to see the big picture and, at times, provides some useful additional information to what Wilma tells us. The one we use is Mobile Travel Guide Road Atlas (large print, large scale, 30% larger maps than standard road atlases).
We also learned that it is not worth the space used to take the makings for homemade oatmeal. The breakfasts in motels these days are really more than adequate. And, it seems that fewer rooms are equipped with microwaves (because of the free breakfast?), yet more and more have small refrigerators. Linda decided that the space used to take her Neti pot and some salt WERE well worth it. She didn't have to use it even once - hooray for taking those sinuses to Arizona!
The winner of our first contest, "Name the Critter That Made This Sound" is Linda's sister, Gloria. In fact, hers was not only the first entry, but the only entry and she answered "Crow". While that answer is not technically correct (it was actually a Common Raven and there is a difference), it is close enough. Congratulations, Gloria, hope you enjoy your book on cacti! Gloria is usually a "first responder". John even thinks that she reads our postings before we even post them. Hmmmmmm!
We are thinking we might just dump the idea of having games and contests for you. As stated, Gloria was the ONLY one entering the "Name the Critter" contest and NO ONE even took a shot at our actual mileage. If only one person had done it, they would have won a really nice piece of petrified wood stolen from the Petrified Forest.... just kidding, we bought it at Jim Grey's Petrified Wood Company and, yes, we do have the receipt to prove that, Mr. or Ms. Park Ranger. For the record, our actual mileage was 2,373.7 miles. We have a nice place to display that piece of petrified wood!
So, please give us your feedback. Do you want us to keep having some games / contests on future adventures?
Haven't even started thinking of where to go next. Any more extravagent (more than 4-day) trips will be after John's Social Security benefits kick in. That will, indeed, be a Happy Birthday. Who says getting older stinks? We might figure out a short (two or three day) excursion between now and then. We love the coast and we love the mountains and we don't like snow. Now, there's a clue. And we have lots of places nearby we can explore for the 1st or 2nd time as Day Trips.
Less than a month until Christmas! We're looking forward to spending Christmas with our marvelous family, despite the fact than none of them, not even one, won a Nobel Prize, of any kind, during 2009. However, we think having boy/girl twins trumps anything the Nobel Committee can hand out.
Thanks for riding along with us. Hope what pictures we offered were to your liking and we hope you'll join us again on future road trips! Hasta la Vista Point Amigas and Amigos!
Wilma did a great job! We really exercised her Nav system finding vets, restaurants, lodging, coffee, gas stations. It's such useful tool. Just can't imagine having a vehicle without one if you ever even leave your neighborhood. One thing learned was to NOT set the navigation to "Most Direct Route" unless you're willing to go over some really bad roads. We learned that at Canyon de Chelly. Besides the Nav system we found it very useful to have a road atlas on board. Linda keeps it in her lap turned to the appropriate page. It helps keep her entertained to see the big picture and, at times, provides some useful additional information to what Wilma tells us. The one we use is Mobile Travel Guide Road Atlas (large print, large scale, 30% larger maps than standard road atlases).
We also learned that it is not worth the space used to take the makings for homemade oatmeal. The breakfasts in motels these days are really more than adequate. And, it seems that fewer rooms are equipped with microwaves (because of the free breakfast?), yet more and more have small refrigerators. Linda decided that the space used to take her Neti pot and some salt WERE well worth it. She didn't have to use it even once - hooray for taking those sinuses to Arizona!
The winner of our first contest, "Name the Critter That Made This Sound" is Linda's sister, Gloria. In fact, hers was not only the first entry, but the only entry and she answered "Crow". While that answer is not technically correct (it was actually a Common Raven and there is a difference), it is close enough. Congratulations, Gloria, hope you enjoy your book on cacti! Gloria is usually a "first responder". John even thinks that she reads our postings before we even post them. Hmmmmmm!
We are thinking we might just dump the idea of having games and contests for you. As stated, Gloria was the ONLY one entering the "Name the Critter" contest and NO ONE even took a shot at our actual mileage. If only one person had done it, they would have won a really nice piece of petrified wood stolen from the Petrified Forest.... just kidding, we bought it at Jim Grey's Petrified Wood Company and, yes, we do have the receipt to prove that, Mr. or Ms. Park Ranger. For the record, our actual mileage was 2,373.7 miles. We have a nice place to display that piece of petrified wood!
So, please give us your feedback. Do you want us to keep having some games / contests on future adventures?
Haven't even started thinking of where to go next. Any more extravagent (more than 4-day) trips will be after John's Social Security benefits kick in. That will, indeed, be a Happy Birthday. Who says getting older stinks? We might figure out a short (two or three day) excursion between now and then. We love the coast and we love the mountains and we don't like snow. Now, there's a clue. And we have lots of places nearby we can explore for the 1st or 2nd time as Day Trips.
Less than a month until Christmas! We're looking forward to spending Christmas with our marvelous family, despite the fact than none of them, not even one, won a Nobel Prize, of any kind, during 2009. However, we think having boy/girl twins trumps anything the Nobel Committee can hand out.
Thanks for riding along with us. Hope what pictures we offered were to your liking and we hope you'll join us again on future road trips! Hasta la Vista Point Amigas and Amigos!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Day 13 - Lebec, CA to Morgan Hill, CA (Happy Thanksgiving)
[Lebec, CA to Morgan Hill, CA] Slept really well last night. That bed was about 40" off the floor. Very comfortable. Maggie got to sleep on the couch for fear she might fall off the bed!
We decided to get up at 7:00a.m. and set the alarm for same. That worked! Went for our complimentary breakfast. Cereal, bagel, danish, fruit, milk, orange juice, and Raw Bits Twang Twang. John missed his malted waffle, though.
It was nice that we left only about 240 miles for today. It made the drive "reasonable" and would let us get home at a reasonable time as well. We figured that since we had planned on going to a Hometown Buffet in San Diego for Thanksgiving dinner, we'd stop by the one in Gilroy on the way home and check it out. If it looked OK, we'd come back after delivering Maggie home.
The traffic was more than John expected. He thought everyone would have traveled the day before and already be at their Thanksgiving destination. The worst traffic was in the Starbucks in Buttonwillow. This was a necessary stop for John as he needed his caffine fix. It gave Linda a "needed" break as well. There was a long line in the drive-thru and a longer line inside. When John got to the counter and placed our order, the clerk asked for his name. Thinking there would be several "Johns" in the place, he said, "Igor". When our order was ready, the server said "Triple Venti Mocha" and that was all. John looked on the cup, and sure enough the order taker had written "Egor" and the server didn't have the wherewithall to call it. Try it some time, it's fun!
Two more sections of pretty bad traffic. One at a nice rest area (yes, it was open!) and one at an accident. Other than that, it was a really nice drive. It felt good when we finally turned off onto Hwy 152, even thought we still had over 50 miles to go.
Went by Costco to get to HomeTown Buffet. Costco was closed, but Wal-Mart was assuredly open. Nice that Costco gives their employees Thanksgiving Day off. Hometown Buffet parking lot wasn't packed. Linda went in and actually spoke with the general manager, Eddie Perez, and looked around. Her report was very positive. Off we went to Morgan Hill. Maggie was glad to see her back yard and crate. John was glad to see the ADA commodes (they are taller than normal ones... easier on old folks knees!) It felt good to be home, but we didn't unpack or unload much yet. We headed back to Gilroy for our Thanksgiving dinner.
OK, here's the report on HomeTown Buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. Roast Turkey breast (moist, tender and succulent), ham and roast beef for meats. Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, broccoli, etc. for accompaniment and fresh rolls and cornbread. If you had room for dessert (we did) pumpkin pie, bread pudding, apple and peach cobbler, chocolate cobbler, ice cream and toppings. For $12.95 less senior discount, it was a great meal. Oh, and John's favorite beverage, milk, right from their refrigerated cow! We signed up for the 2010 Senior Plan where you get a good break on lunches between 1 and 3 p.m. during the week.
Rolled ourselves out of the place and stopped for some milk on the way home.
After letting the meal settle a while, we started unloading Wilma. No big rush as we're not going anywhere right away.
Road trips are great fun.... but it always feels good to come home. Linda thinks she must have been extra excited about coming home. Thursday was the only morning on the whole trip that she forgot to take her vitamins and prescriptions. She noticed when she was unpacking that Thursday's slot was still full o' pills.
Thanks for traveling along with us. We have heard from a few people who have been gluttons for our punishment. We both enjoy taking photos and find that it seems to sort of make one look at things in more depth. And we each have our preference for favorite types of subjects. John likes old things and odd angles while Linda gravitates towards quirky signs and series of objects. And both enjoy trying to capture beautiful scenery.
If you have any suggestions or feedback for us, we would love to hear from you.
Were the videos a good addition? Too many photos? Too much information? We won't be bothering you for a while. We haven't set a destination for our next road trip. There are so many places we have not been yet and we were really inspired by the recent PBS series about the National Parks and Monuments. But now it's time to hunker down and save some dollar$ and cent$ for a while. Build up the coffers for our next adventure, so to speak.
Results of the Mileage Madness Game in tomorrow's wrapup post.
We decided to get up at 7:00a.m. and set the alarm for same. That worked! Went for our complimentary breakfast. Cereal, bagel, danish, fruit, milk, orange juice, and Raw Bits Twang Twang. John missed his malted waffle, though.
It was nice that we left only about 240 miles for today. It made the drive "reasonable" and would let us get home at a reasonable time as well. We figured that since we had planned on going to a Hometown Buffet in San Diego for Thanksgiving dinner, we'd stop by the one in Gilroy on the way home and check it out. If it looked OK, we'd come back after delivering Maggie home.
The traffic was more than John expected. He thought everyone would have traveled the day before and already be at their Thanksgiving destination. The worst traffic was in the Starbucks in Buttonwillow. This was a necessary stop for John as he needed his caffine fix. It gave Linda a "needed" break as well. There was a long line in the drive-thru and a longer line inside. When John got to the counter and placed our order, the clerk asked for his name. Thinking there would be several "Johns" in the place, he said, "Igor". When our order was ready, the server said "Triple Venti Mocha" and that was all. John looked on the cup, and sure enough the order taker had written "Egor" and the server didn't have the wherewithall to call it. Try it some time, it's fun!
Two more sections of pretty bad traffic. One at a nice rest area (yes, it was open!) and one at an accident. Other than that, it was a really nice drive. It felt good when we finally turned off onto Hwy 152, even thought we still had over 50 miles to go.
Went by Costco to get to HomeTown Buffet. Costco was closed, but Wal-Mart was assuredly open. Nice that Costco gives their employees Thanksgiving Day off. Hometown Buffet parking lot wasn't packed. Linda went in and actually spoke with the general manager, Eddie Perez, and looked around. Her report was very positive. Off we went to Morgan Hill. Maggie was glad to see her back yard and crate. John was glad to see the ADA commodes (they are taller than normal ones... easier on old folks knees!) It felt good to be home, but we didn't unpack or unload much yet. We headed back to Gilroy for our Thanksgiving dinner.
OK, here's the report on HomeTown Buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. Roast Turkey breast (moist, tender and succulent), ham and roast beef for meats. Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, gravy, cranberry relish, broccoli, etc. for accompaniment and fresh rolls and cornbread. If you had room for dessert (we did) pumpkin pie, bread pudding, apple and peach cobbler, chocolate cobbler, ice cream and toppings. For $12.95 less senior discount, it was a great meal. Oh, and John's favorite beverage, milk, right from their refrigerated cow! We signed up for the 2010 Senior Plan where you get a good break on lunches between 1 and 3 p.m. during the week.
Rolled ourselves out of the place and stopped for some milk on the way home.
After letting the meal settle a while, we started unloading Wilma. No big rush as we're not going anywhere right away.
Road trips are great fun.... but it always feels good to come home. Linda thinks she must have been extra excited about coming home. Thursday was the only morning on the whole trip that she forgot to take her vitamins and prescriptions. She noticed when she was unpacking that Thursday's slot was still full o' pills.
Thanks for traveling along with us. We have heard from a few people who have been gluttons for our punishment. We both enjoy taking photos and find that it seems to sort of make one look at things in more depth. And we each have our preference for favorite types of subjects. John likes old things and odd angles while Linda gravitates towards quirky signs and series of objects. And both enjoy trying to capture beautiful scenery.
If you have any suggestions or feedback for us, we would love to hear from you.
Were the videos a good addition? Too many photos? Too much information? We won't be bothering you for a while. We haven't set a destination for our next road trip. There are so many places we have not been yet and we were really inspired by the recent PBS series about the National Parks and Monuments. But now it's time to hunker down and save some dollar$ and cent$ for a while. Build up the coffers for our next adventure, so to speak.
Results of the Mileage Madness Game in tomorrow's wrapup post.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Day 12 - Scottsdale, AZ to Lebec, CA
[Scottsdale AZ to Lebec, CA] We got up early to take Maggie Mae back to Dr. Rick who had suggested that he would like to see her on Wednesday if we could stick around a couple of extra days. He was please with her progress. Her wounds are still draining and he changed the antibiotic to a different dose and prescribed enough to get her through five more days.
We drove as far as Lebec where we landed in a very nice Ramada Inn Limited - really cute western decor and a nice room - even has a couch - a first for this trip. We ate at a Mexican restaurant that is right next door. The traffic was starting to get really heavy so (after 8 hours) we were glad be through driving for the day. Less than 4 hours to get home tomorrow. Yeah! We can sleep in and have our free breakfast and hit the road.
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. Enjoy Tom Turkey and All the Trimmings!
We drove as far as Lebec where we landed in a very nice Ramada Inn Limited - really cute western decor and a nice room - even has a couch - a first for this trip. We ate at a Mexican restaurant that is right next door. The traffic was starting to get really heavy so (after 8 hours) we were glad be through driving for the day. Less than 4 hours to get home tomorrow. Yeah! We can sleep in and have our free breakfast and hit the road.
We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. Enjoy Tom Turkey and All the Trimmings!
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