Yesterday we left Steamboat Bend Campground in Cincinnati after 4 nights. We got to see family and hang out with some friends. It’s never long enough, but at least we got to go home before Christmas, even if it was just for a couple days… Continue reading
We got the h-e-double hockey sticks outta California yesterday! Good riddance… We were at Novato RV Park for 2 weeks too long.
Hakuna Matada = Leave the past behind you! Continue reading
It seems like ALMOST every park I’ve called in the Bay Area has been answered by a RUDE person. I’m so sick of it! Continue reading
We wiggled (kinda literally) out of spot #117 at Candlestick RV Park at 8:33AM on Friday morning. (Thanks to Marcus and Brad for their spotting help!) 
It took us a half hour to get past Oakland headed east on I-80. Not too shabby… I managed to narrowly avoid a panic attack crossing the Bay Bridge. (That thing just makes me nauseous!) But Allen is a fairly good driver (just kidding, he’s a beast) so when I get too scared I just close my eyes and get all religious and know that everything will be alright!
my shaky panoramic picture taking skills
Happy Friday!
Last week was Fleet Week in San Francisco. Allen lucked out and had an amazing view from the tower. He saw them practicing Thursday then watched the whole show on Friday from level 6 on Sutro! Here’s some pictures he took…
Saturday he was off work so we took Charlie on a long walk over in Candlestick Recreation Area (right next door to the campground).
we took a break after about a mile so Charlie could rest her little legs
there are ground squirrels all over at the park and Charlie tries to chase them into their holes
After the show we went to Fog Harbor Fish House on Pier 39. I thought it was going to be better than it was. We had calamari and clam chowder (not nearly as delicious as The Old Clam House). Then I got the Mixed Grill (shrimp, swordfish and salmon), and Allen ordered the Wild Alaskan King Salmon. It had a super disgusting taste to it, almost like propane even though I’ve never tasted propane… So he sent that back and got the Pacific Cod (that was much better). After that we were thoroughly stuffed and headed back home on the bike. Luckily we had a few blocks to walk off dinner 🙂
Mixed Grill
Alaskan King Salmon
Pacific Cod
5-0 now!
We wanted to put the valve in the jacks but there were campers parked where we needed to pull the truck to hook up the camper in order to do that… So that had to wait.
We did try to clean the water filter. The water here is gross and we are going through filters that should last 3 months in half the time. We also have a screen on the hose which gets full of debris in about a week and lessens the water pressure considerably. But there’s nowhere around here to get replacement water filters, so we are stuck with trying to clean them for now.
I hoping to be out of here, if not this coming weekend, then sometime next week! So I started loosely planning our trip. I use the Good Sam trip planner because it lets you put in height requirements and maps out Flying J and Pilot Travel Centers and rest areas and campgrounds along the way. We are going to go through South Dakota to change our domicile then on to Dallas to bring down the tower at Fair Park. Hopefully that job takes us until Christmastime. I’m just excited to get the heck out of San Francisco and this asphalt parking lot!
Not together of course. That wouldn’t be so delicious. But separately=yum!
Side note: if you WANT to try chocolate covered clams, here’s a random recipe!
Saturday Allen and I met my friend Dave for dinner at The Old Clam House. Dave and I went to the Academy of Art together about…. Oh, we’ll just say 7 years ago… And he lives in the city now.
**Disclaimer: I took none of the pictures of The Old Clam House, just borrowed them from Google.
He could not have picked a better place! The Old Clam House is the oldest restaurant in San Francisco. It started in 1861. If you’re ever hungry in the city I highly recommend it! We started with drinks of course. They have their own beer, brewed by Anchor Steam, so I had that. It was really good, a little lighter than Allen’s Lagunitas. It’s called Old Clam House Milwaukee Steam.
Then we had a sizzling iron platter of shrimp and mussels with butter to dip in. Dave hates that the place switched owners and they no longer serve sourdough bread, but they make this soda bread in a cast iron pot type thing that was really good (I wish I could make bread like that!)
Next came the, I think, world’s best clam chowder. Oh my goodness. I want a bowl for breakfast as I’m writing this. Fantastic.
Then I finally got to try cioppino! I’ve always wanted to but I was always a little iffy about it. It was really good! Allen liked it too. I was a TINY bit surprised he liked everything as much as I did.
Thank you Dave for a wonderful dinner! If you’re up for it, check out some of Dave’s paintings!
Now for the Chocolate Zucchini Bread….
I did take this photo!
I found the recipe here: With The Grains
I modified it a little to fit what I had and cut it in half. I love it! The closest way I can think to describe it is it’s kinda like a chocolate muffin. It’s not too sweet. But it doesn’t taste like zucchini at all. I’ll definitely make it again. Here’s the version I made:
It’s kind of nice that Allen has been getting Saturdays off work. That doesn’t happen too often. But it gives us a chance to do more things… So this Saturday we fixed the ladder on the camper and lowered the top bunk in the garage to give us me more storage space. Continue reading
Yesterday my mom laid the plaque for my brother’s tree. I wish I could’ve been there.
We ordered it from International Bronze when I first got out here to San Francisco. It took almost 2 months. Joe, the designer I spoke with, was really nice and helpful and I recommend them to anyone looking for a plaque.
It’s in Mt. Healthy Park in my hometown. Adam always loved the park and especially the pool. We spent many, many days there when we were younger. They used to have a putt-putt golf course that cost 15 cents, or you could pick up 5 pieces of trash and play for free -that was what we always did! Adam passed his test to swim in the deep end with ease, me, not so much. But one day when the pool was crowded he pretended like he hadn’t taken his test yet, there were a bunch of kids that were going to take theirs at once. (You just had to swim back and forth across the 10-foot part.) But when we all started swimming, Adam helped me and it was too crowded that the lifeguards didn’t see. So from then on I was allowed to jump off the diving board. And that’s all I did was jump, towards the side, holding my nose. No diving for me! Then I would doggy paddle to the ladder and get back out. Thank you Adam. I love you.
So yesterday was pretty sad.
To top it off, it was National Dog Day. (I’ll explain why this was sad…) I made Charlie a new doggy bed. I was Pinteresting, yet again, and found an idea for an envelope dog bed, or a snuggly dog bed, or like a sleeping bag dog bed. I knew I had to make it for her because she is constantly wanting under the covers.
I woke up 5 minutes before Allen’s alarm went off this morning to Charlie whining in my face. I lifted up the blanket so she could crawl under. Still, whining. I laid my hand on her. No more whining. What a baby! 🙂
So I made this bed and I’m pretty sure it instantly became her favorite. (She has 3 – One that came with her from her old family, one I made last week and now this one… Allen says Charlie’s camper footprint is getting too large.)
So when we went to bed, I put it in the closet in the bedroom, for some reason she likes it in there, and both sides of the bed now have other dog beds. So she went in the closet and that’s where she slept, all by herself, almost all night. Without me. I had to sleep alone. Well, not alone, I mean Allen was there, but he’s not the same as my puppy. (Sorry honey, I love you!) So after Allen fell asleep, which he always tends to do a lot faster than me, I was awake and sad because Charlie wasn’t next to me and thinking about my brother, and I think I was awake half the night. Not being able to fall asleep is the worst.
But, today is a new day, and I get to try out my new Bug-A-Salt rifle! Unfortunately it is not a semi-automatic… I have to pump it and turn the safety off every time. But hopefully I get rid of all these flies that hang around in my front dirt yard! Good ole San Francisco…
By the way, I made Beef Stew for dinner last night if you want the recipe… Yum!
And here are the instructions for the doggy bed on SuzySitcom. One thing I did realize, then I had to redo it, is the instructions say to put the pocket piece and the larger piece right side together. But this is wrong, you need to put the pocket piece and the larger piece both right side facing down… You’ll see!
While Allen enjoys his view “from the office“…
Panoramic view from atop Sutro Tower
Allen on top of Sutro
a zoomed in view
Charlie getting in the way of my reading
This was a better spot but it didnt last long
Just keeping an eye on things
My neighbor Carmen recently got us (and by that I mean me, because really, Allen will never touch the thing…) a bread machine! I love it! I’ve been wanting to get one since we were in Florida this last time. Our neighbors Lyne and Terry had one and it smelled so good. They bring down their own flour every year from Canada because they don’t like the way American bread tastes. Anyway, I’ve been comparing models, and Carmen said she really wanted to get us something for sort of a housewarming gift, so, I’m the proud new owner of an Oster 2LB. Expressbake Breadmaker.
my very first loaf… i was excited and couldnt wait to try it.
I made a super scrumptious cheddar/garlic/herb type loaf that we ate one day then the next day sliced and drizzled with EVOO and stuck on the grill for a few minutes – SO good! We had the bread with a bacon-wrapped pork loin…yum!
Cheesy, garlicky, herby goodness… Please excuse the bites off the top, i couldnt help myself…
The latest was a 1LB Italian garlic and herb loaf which came out perfect! It’s the perfect size for sandwiches. (Allen’s taken two to work already.) And I let it cool longer this time before slicing. I also didn’t use my fancy bread knife and bamboo bread slicer that I bought.
I just used a non-serrated knife I got from the Dollar Tree a LONG time ago, and it worked great… Surprising, but true… So we have decided that the 1LB loaves are the way to go… My goal is to never buy grocery store bread again.
On another note, I felt my very first earthquake ever!!! I went to school (this super expensive one) out here in San Francisco for 4yrs and never felt one (I think I was on a barstool for most of them…) and then last year we were out here for about 5 months and I didn’t feel one then either. This one was crazy! I was laying in bed with Charlie, probably blogging or Pinteresting, and it felt like someone hit the camper. It actually felt like Allen backed up and hitched up to the camper, but I knew he was at work. So I thought A) someone was trying to steal our house with me and the dog inside! or B) one of these tourists driving a rental RV must’ve clipped our nose… Charlie and I both ran outside but nobody was out. All was quiet. I texted Allen and he then informed me it was an earthquake, that they felt it by the tower too. Yikes! But it was a smaller one, nobody was hurt, so that was good.
Begin Rant:
I’ve also been on the phone trying to order parts for the camper from Grand Design. We have a 2015 Grand Design Momentum 385TH. We just bought it at the end of March. It’s still brand new. You’d think it would be fairly easy to get simple parts for it. Almost two weeks after sending the first “inquiry form” to Grand Design, we finally have parts on the way! (I honestly thought they would have excellent customer service being that they are still a new and fairly small company…)
While I was back at my mom’s house for my brother’s funeral and Allen and Charlie drove from Texas to San Francisco alone, a yellow pole at a tiny gas station jumped up and grabbed onto the ladder on the side of the camper, yanked it a little and busted the red light that’s back there. So we need a light, and the bottom brackets that hold the ladder onto the camper.
We wound up having to get the part numbers from Grand Design then call a dealer to order them because Grand Design is not set up to sell directly to actual people. I find this silly. Luckily, Shelly at Lazydays RV in Florida was super nice and helped us out. I probably should’ve called Palm Beach RV since that’s where we bought the camper, but oh well.
Anyway, while I was on the phone with Amanda at Grand Design I had her switch me over to Jerry in warranty (yes, I’m on a first name basis with these people). I spoke with Jerry multiple times when we were in Louisiana trying to take care of the radio/tv situation. Grand Design had the bright idea to put some Furrion products, and some Haier products in here. (To save money I presume..) But they don’t communicate well with one another. The radio in the living room is also a DVD player and that wasn’t working so Jerry sent us a new HDMI cord. It worked then, but in hindsight I don’t think the cord was the issue. We still have the same problem with having sound and no picture when we play a DVD but now we just unplug the TV then plug it back in. It’s the cheap Haier TV. In the garage (toy hauler) there is a car stereo that also plays DVDs. But it constantly sounds like it is skipping around a CD in there or trying to spit one out. Jerry also sent us a new radio that we swapped out. That worked for a while. I noticed Monday that it started making noise again. So he is supposedly sending us ANOTHER radio to swap out and says if we have more issues we will have to take it in to have it looked at. I’m trying to avoid that because we live in here full time and I’d rather not live at a dealership for days. Also, the closest Grand Design dealer is in Sacramento. And Allen will not be commuting to from Sacramento to San Francisco to work! Anyway, last time, Jerry took forever to send anything out, I mean he said he sent it then a week later I called to see where it was and he still hadn’t sent it. So fingers crossed he actually put it in the mail yesterday!
End Rant.
Before we left for Tahoe, Allen’s buddy was flying home for the weekend and gave us a 10LB bag of potatoes. (He lives alone. Why he would buy a 10LB bag of potatoes eludes me. I’ll have to talk to him about that.) Anyhow, I’ve been looking at this bag all week. Then I decided that instead of letting them go bad, maybe I could freeze them. So I Googled… Then I made some frozen hashbrowns (you just dice them, drop them in boiling water for about 2min, drain and cool them, bag them and freeze them) and some frozen fries (same as above but you also fry them in oil for about 3min after blanching and drying, then cool, bag and freeze). Easy peasy. I still have over 5LBs of potatoes left but at least I got rid of some of them!
skinny fries
potato wedges (I sprinkled them with season salt when I took them out of the oil.
Every time we go back to Cincy we have to pick up a couple packs of chili mix…
I like 5-ways. Allen likes 4-ways. Everyone likes a good 3-way. 😉
I promise, Charlie didn’t drink with us!
Thursday
Monday
Home Sweet Home on Wheels 