Saturday: (06/01) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. We went to the Palo Alto Caltrain station where one of the new electric trains was supposed to be on display at some kind of meeting. It didn’t show up because it was rescheduled until September? I was dropped off at home and Lou, Dawn and Meili went out to look at some of the City Wide Garage Sales today. I finished up tank duty on the motorhome and refreshing the compost toilet in the van. Then I Went to Smart and Final Market to get a disposable casserole dish and spoon for tomorrow's potluck. I then picked up a Super Burrito from Super Taqueria for lunch. Then a nice shower and I started to prepare my stuffed bell pepper casserole dish. I filled the serving dish for tomorrow and had leftovers to use for dinner tonight. I washed the front of the motorhome, Hyundai, and Jeep in the evening. Lou did our laundry.
Sunday: (06/02) A breakfast sandwich from the freezer for breakfast. Later, for brunch, Lou made biscuits and gravy. I weeded Lou’s garden and the berries. About 1430 we headed off to a potluck birthday party for my friend Alex at Mitchell Park. Nice chance to see some of my hiking buddies. I did a final load of laundry in the evening.
Monday: (06/03) I had a frozen breakfast sandwich for breakfast. We did the final preparation to roll and headed off to Capitola at 1030. It didn’t take long to get over the hill. We had cobbler for lunch. We stopped at the Capitola Mall to wait until we could get into our campsite (#95) at 1400. We settled into site 95. Lou made a salad for dinner.
Tuesday: (06/04) Lou and I took a walk on New Brighton Beach in the morning. I left Lou at Seacliff and hiked back to get the Jeep. When I picked her up we all had breakfast burritos at a deli at the village of Seacliff. Back at camp, Lou and Dawn were off to take showers. I relaxed in camp. When they returned from their showers, they came back with my friend Dave, who had spotted them looking lost trying to get back to camp. Interestingly, Dave had emailed me yesterday with a question about toilets for small vans. We were both here in the same campground yesterday as well. Lou and Dawn were off shopping. I walked with Dave and his wife Lou to downtown Capitola. We watched the surfers and had lunch there. I had a bowl of clam chowder. Lou made salads for dinner followed by some berry cobbler for desert.
Wednesday: (06/05) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. We all walked over to Dave and Lou’s campsite and chatted until they had to check out. Then Dawn and I left our Lou and drove over to downtown Santa Cruz. Dawn and I had lunch at Betty’s Eat Inn, some hamburgers. Then Dawn checked out a couple of bookstores while I looked around. Back home, Lou made open faced chicken sandwiches for dinner.
Thursday: (06/06) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Later in the morning I moved the motorhome into our new site (80) It has a view of the ocean. After I was backed in and while setting up I noticed that a previous tenant had dumped their blackwater tank leaving white TP residue all over. Not pleasant but, making the best of things, I tried to hose it off where it was exposed and brushed it as well, making it passable. However, not wanting to be blamed for the spill, I advised the Host. Park maintenance insisted we move out of the site and provided use with a hookup site for the night as well as a premium cliff site for two more days. In addition the Host gave us some free firewood. We did have to make more moves but got to stay an additional night. We had ramen noodles with chili for lunch. Pulled pork and twice baked potatoes.
Friday: (06/07) Clam chowder for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were off shopping. I hung around until our new campsite was vacated then moved the motorhome to it. Later I walked the RR tracks to Seacliff from the camp. Along the way I found a trail into the undeveloped part of the park. Nice. I had a slice of very good pizza while there. We had tamales for dinner.
Saturday: (06/08) Granola and yogurt for breakfast. Lou and Dawn had sweet tamales for breakfast. I made a shopping run to Nob Hill Market to get drinking water refills and milk. I couldn’t find a water vending machine so I had to get some new bottles. Later, Dawn and I visited the tamale shop for more tamales. Lou wasn’t feeling well. Dawn and I also took a walk down to the beach. A hot dog sandwich for lunch. Tamales for dinner.
Sunday: (06/09) A tamale for breakfast. We left the campground about 1015. Lou and Dawn went separately through Watsonville and Gilroy thrifting. I hung around Seacliff until Pizza My Heart pizza parlor opened at 1100 and I bought a couple of slices of pizza for lunch later. Then I took Highway 17 back toward home. I stopped for gas in Cupertino then I stopped at REI in Sunnyvale to eat my lunch. Back home I settled in. I drained the holding tanks, took a shower and washed the sheets. Another tamale for dinner. Lou and Dawn returned late and had sweet tamales for dinner.
Monday: (06/10) I had a frozen sausage, egg pancake and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Lou and I picked berries to start the day. Later, I worked in the shop cleaning and organizing a little. I was also looking for some cable lugs for the van fuse repair. I eventually found what I needed and installed the fuse holder. Salad for lunch. Lou made another hamburger salad for dinner.
Tuesday: (06/11) I had the fairly usual frozen sausage, egg pancake and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Mid Morning I went shopping. I stopped at Nob Hill Market for more water bottles with handles. Glazier water bottles don’t have handles any more. Next stop was Sprout’s Market to get green tea and Bee’s Knees peanut butter. Then over the the Santa Clara Grocery outlet Market for a few bargains. Then on the Walmart neighborhood Market for more things. Fina stop was to look around Harbor Freight. I could remember why I wanted to stop there other than I needed a new bench brush but they did not have one I wanted. Back outside I just relaxed in the van working on the computer. I was finally able to complete the claim form to get my watch replaced. After that it was nap time. I ran the van cabin air conditioner most of the day, even when parked. Having run 5-6 hours I used less than 20 percent running all day in the sun and it was nice and cool inside with 93 degrees outside. For lunch I made a pulled pork sandwich with cheese. Dawn prepared a plum chicken stew over rice dinner.
Wednesday: (06/12) I prepared sausage with hash browned potatoes and eggs for breakfast. We walked by a new house building project a few houses down our street. Still haven't figured out what it’s going to end up like even though they are well along on the second floor framing. I cleared off the new patio construction area in preparation to continue it. The temperature will be 20 degrees cooler today, only up to 74 today. I attended my Wednesday webinar.
Thursday: (06/13) Leftover yesterday’s breakfast for breakfast. I dug out and leveld the patio extension area. I also repaired the house cooler. It had a loose hose to the pads and the belt was too loose. I had to adjust the motor pully to tighten the belt. Then I took a shower, cut my hair and beard and took another shower. All trimmed now. Lou made hamburgers for lunch. I received my replacement google watch and set it up. I trimmed the wisteria on the front gate. Chili size for dinner.
Friday: (06/14) I got my hiking breakfast from Happy Donut, a sausage, egg, and cheese English muffin with a donut. I met my fellow SJMW hikers at Wunderlich Park. We hike up to Alice’s Restaurant for lunch then returned down the hill for a 9 mile hike. After the hike I stopped in Menlo Park to relax before heading home. I mostly did more relaxing before going outside to trim the freeway lilies so they don’t touch the motorhome and sprain around the tires and jacks to try to sop an ant attack.
Saturday: (06/15) Berry cobbler for breakfast. I spent the morning installing a couple of rows of bricks on the patio extension. I then wet down the bricks and sand edge because I need to install the center trench drain before continuing with more bricks. That’s for tomorrow. I took a shower and relaxed a while then went to a late lunch about 1400. Lunch from USA Chinese food in Redwood City. Back home, more relaxing. Leftover Chinese food for dinner.
Sunday: (06/16) A pancake sausage egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I worked on the patio installing the first section of drain strip. Then I had to go get more sand from Lowe’s Lou and Dawn came separately as well. They bought plants and I got my sand. Back home it was lunch time. Hotdog sandwich for lunch. I relaxed after lunch until about 1600 then got to work on the patio again. I installed the second piece of drain strip. I had to cut a little slot in the concrete wall for it to fit. With a third row of bricks and the drain strips complete I checked my slope toward the wall and found that the third row of bricks was tilted ½’ to high so tomorrow I will correct the slope and maybe finish the patio or at least more until I run out of sand. Salad for dinner. Lou and Dawn got me some heated massaging socks for Father’s day.
Monday: (06/17) A pancake sausage egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I worked on the patio again. I installed the rest of the bricks that don’t need to be cut or set in mortar. Tomorrow I’ll get those installed. I did have to go to Lowe’s again for some more sand. Lou prepared hamburgers for lunch and shrimp tacos for dinner. Momo, our neighbor's dog came over in the evening to stay with us for a week while they are away.
Tuesday: (06/18) Granola for breakfast. I cut a bunch of paver bricks in half and installed the missing edge bricks. That was enough for the day. Maybe tomorrow I’ll mix some mortar and place the edge bricks by the garden and sweep some dry grout into the cracks and spaces. I also have to do something with the drip pipe that comes through in the corner by reworking the piping and fitting that last brick into place. I cleaned up my work area, took a shower and went to get lunch at Super Taqueria. I took the van to lunch and stopped at Bol Park to enjoy the outdoors, visit the donkeys, do some computing and take a nap. Dawn called and said she was making macaroni and cheese for dinner.
Wednesday: (06/19) Leftover burritos for breakfast for all of us. I installed an edge form to keep the thick mortar from flowing away. Then I attended my Wednesday webinar. After that I mixed grout and installed all the edge bricks by the garden edge. I also grouted the ½” space between the last bricks and the fence base. With all this work, I ended up with one extra brick. Then I cleaned up my tools and work area. Lou made quesadillas for lunch. Dawn made mushroom soup for dinner.
Thursday: (06/20) Granola for breakfast. I worked in the garden . I relocated the solar panels to the new patio. Then I removed and stored away the bricks that remained from the old patio that were under the panels. Then, I started preparing the garden soil. I removed some debris and started tilling the soil. There was lots of clay and bae rock so I’ll need to screen all the soil to get rud of the rocks and hard clay pebbles. I went out to lunch at Wok On Chinese restaurant. Then I stopped at Target for a few things and took a nap. I was awakened by an automated phone call from Clark Pest Control advising me of an upcoming inspection at the San Jose house. I didn’t catch the time but heard the date as the 20th, which was today. I called back and eventually got a person who confirmed the call was about an inspection today but the automated call should have been yesterday. They will reschedule. Back home, when Lou and Dawn returned they suggested we have dinner at Panera Bread but I wanted to wait until later, which we did.
Friday: (06/21) A pancake sausage egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I did some weeding in Lou’s garden Then I filtered several buckets of soil to get rocks and clay balls out of the garden soil. Then I rototilled the area needing preparation/ While that dried in the sun a bit, I headed off to Lowe’s to get some garden soil and steer manure to mix with the filtered soil. On the way there I got a call from Clark’s Pest Control saying that the inspector would be there after lunch. I headed on down to San Jose to meet the inspector. I stopped to pick up a burrito at La Victoria Taqueria on the way. The inspector arrived about 1230 and did the inspection and finished quickly by 1315. I then stopped by Harbor Freight to get some buckets and Lowe’s for the other items. Back home, I unloaded the car and decided to rest until it cooled off later. Lou was doing laundry and wanted my dirty clothes so I never got any evening work done. We had Iranian chicken salad for dinner
Saturday: (06/22) I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Later. I filled seven more buckets of filtered dirt debris and took it to Newby Island dump. My usual dump in Santa Clara isn’t open on weekends. Newby is really expensive. It was $85 to dump my 700 pounds of debris due to a minimum charge. I reluctantly paid it because I wanted to get this project done. I stopped by Wok On Chinese restaurant to pick up lunch and what became dinner as well. Then I stopped by the City park to get some mulch for the garden spot. Back home it was time for a nap. About 1600 I got busy again. The garden spot was mostly shaded by then. I filtered another four buckets of debris. Then I rototilled the bottom of the hole. Added the mulch and some sand and tilled it together. Then added the filtered dirt and tilled again. This was all capped with the garden soi; mix I bought a couple of days ago and some steer manure followed by another tilling. That provided a nice garden patch filling the area to the proper depth.
Sunday: (06/23) Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were off with a walking group to the Stanford campus. I just go out for the day. I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of weekend traffic so I stayed close to home. I drove up to Redwood City to get Lasagna for lunch and dinner from Harry’s Hofbrau. Then I went to Best Buy and REI and other places to shop. I also took a long nap there. I gave the van air conditioner a good workout on battery running it over six hours. On the way home I stopped for a walk through the Stanford Arizona Cactus Garden.
Monday: (06/24) Yogurt and granola for breakfast. I started some potatoes with sauerkraut and sausage for dinner later. Then I worked in the office. BBQ pulled pork and cheese sandwich for lunch. I relaxed all afternoon. I had too many potatoes with sauerkraut and sausage for dinner.
Tuesday: (06/25) Granola for breakfast. I took care of some things in the yard. I replaced the vent fan for under the house. I installed the drip tubes in the new garden space and repaired a couple of slices of the drip tube. Unfortunately I only got the two splice connectors I thought I needed but found out I needed a third. I taped up that leak and will install a coupler later. I ordered some from Amazon. The ones I got at ACE were $5 each, the ones from Amazon are 12 for $10. I’m sure I’ll be needing more. I also checked Dawn’s computer at her apartment which she said had a problem and was slow. I didn't find anything wrong with it but did update some programs and do device and virus scans. Leftover Iranian chicken salad for lunch. Leftover sausage with sauerkraut and potatoes for dinner.
Wednesday: (06/26) I fried up some of the leftover potatoes and sauerkraut And added some ham and eggs for breakfast. I finished preparing to leave in the van. I added the bike back into the van's garage. I left about 1000. I stopped for gas in Cupertino ($4.05). I called ahead to House Of Pizza in San Jose and had lunch there and stowed away a couple of lunches as well, all from a “very small” Confusion pizza. I stopped in Gilroy at Grocery Outlet for a few things. I took Highway 152 and turned at Bell Station to go see Doudy Ranch entrance to Henry Coe SP. A dusty 7 mile road out to the park. I plan to lead a hike here and or camp out there in the future. Then onto Los Banos where I stopped at Walmart for a walk. Then a stop at a TA truck stop for a pitstop. I looked up a Chinese buffet in Fresno for dinner but the price was 50% more than shown online, so no. I continued on to Visalia and got gas ($3.95). The on to Lemon Cove and up toward Mineral King. It was pitch black dark by the time I got to the turnoff. I noticed a sign saying the campgrounds were closed and RV's were prohibited so I returned to Lemon Cove and spent the night beside the road. Leftover sauerkraut potatoes for dinner.
Thursday: (06/27) Up before the sun. I took Balch Park Road which turned out to be a bad idea. It dwindled to a narrow poorly maintained road before eventually getting better and, after nearly an hour on it, I ended up just a few miles from where I started. When I made it back near Springville, I took Highway 190 toward Quaking Aspen. I passed at least three signs saying to road was closed ahead but it never was. There was a lot of construction along the road. I checked into several campgrounds from Quaking Aspen to Johnsondale. None looked interesting, possibly because they were all hot, dusty, and expensive. I stopped at the Johnsondale Bridge to look at the river and look for the trail to Seven Tea Cup Falls. I didn’t find it. There was no cell signal anywhere nearby. I was also low on gas so I drove down to Kernville and got gas. I also did some research on the falls and downloaded some information and maps. It was only 1400 when I finished but too hot to do any hike so I parked beside the river and rested and napped. I awoke about 1800 and drove back up past the Johnsondale Bridge to the trailhead about ½ mile up the road. I was able to barely fit beside the road there and settled in for the night. I’ll get up early tomorrow before the sun to do my hike when it is cooler. I had leftover pizza for breakfast and lunch. And BBQ ribs and a baked potato for dinner.
Friday: (06/28) Up at 0500. I prepared some leftover pizza for breakfast and checked the daypack. I was off at 0545. It was a steep climb to start but the trail was well marked and easy to follow. I was at the falls by 0715. Definitely worth hiking out to see the tea pots, So I would be sure not to be hiking too much when it was hotter. I kept my visit to 30 minutes. I was back to the van by 0930. On the way back I met a swarm of mosquitos. Luckily, they were not around the falls and weren’t out earlier. I need to add some repellent to my daypack. I had some more pizza for brunch before leaving. I took Sherman Pass Road out to Highway 395. I had thought the road would be gravel all the way but it was paved all the way and better than our main road in Palo Alto. I enjoyed a lunch break on top at the Sherman Pass Vista Point of a chicken breast and some tater tots. I took a break at the Coso Rest Area before continuing up above Bishop stopping for the night at a BLM area. I had a salad for dinner.
Saturday: (06/29) Breakfast sandwich. I left camp and headed up Tioga Pass to Yosemite. I was turned away because I didn't have a reservation. So I went into Lundy Canyon and hiked up about 2 miles then back. Nice hike through a lot of Aspen trees and wading across streams. On the way in I picked up a family and their dog and brought them back out. The wife had taken a bad fall. I started the hike about 1130 and ended about 1430. About a four mile hike. I had leftover salad for lunch before I started. After the hike I continued up 395 stopping in Bridgeport for some asada fries and a shake. Then on up to Gardnerville where I stopped near the fairgrounds on some BLM land.
Sunday: (06/30) I some of the leftover asada fries for my breakfast. On my way back to Highway 395 I came upon a Walmart's I hadn’t noticed on either of my previous times passing by it. I remembered the French cheesecake I had a couple of days ago so I stopped in to get some. I also walked past their auto service desk, which wasn’t open. Since I haven't found a place to get my oil change I thought I’d try Walmart. They had an online scheduling link so I tried it and the earliest I could schedule the oil change was 5 pm today. No good. I continued North on Highway 395. I passed through Reno and did some exploration of the area before stopping in at Cabella’s sporting goods with just a short wit for them to open at 1000. After looking around I was leaving town when I thought I’d try to find an oil change again and found Jimmy’s Wash and Oil Change. First, they were at least open on Sunday, unlike most places. Second, no appointment needed. Only a 15 minute wait and they got right to it and I was on my way. I drove up I8-0 freeway to Truckee then turned onto Highway 89 and then onto Highway 49 making my way to Sierra City. When I passed through Sierra City hiking the PCT, I stopped in the store and got a wonderful hot pastrami sandwich which I decided to get again. I left town and headed back on Highway 49 to the road going up into the Lakes Region and stopped at a Vista Point to have lunch and relax a while. Very good sandwich. I considered stopping for the night at one of the campgrounds and almost got stuck so I removed myself and continued on over to Portola then back East on Highway 70 stopping at a highway rest stop for the night. Nice view of a cow pasture rather than the lake I was trying to stop beside earlier. I had some soup for dinner.
