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
Tag Archives: san francisco
Goodbye Nebraska, it’s been fun!
We are hitting the road this morning, leaving Chimney Rock Pioneer Crossing RV Park. (Check out our review here.) We had fun and will definitely come back if we are in the area. Laura and Joe, the campground owners, were super nice and we are for sure going to miss them! Continue reading
Rude Campgrounds!
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
Goodbye and Good Riddance!
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!
We are past Sacramento now and haven’t hit much traffic. (Knock on wood…) Our plan right now is to stop at a KOA in Winnemucca, Nevada. We have a while before we need to be in North Dakota so we may as well take our time!
Happy Friday!
Blue Angels in San Francisco
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).
Then we headed down to the Wharf to watch the Blue Angels from the ground. We lucked out and found a good spot at the end of an alley. Very neat! I didn’t try to get any photos, they were just TOO fast!
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 🙂
Sunday we watched the Bengals play a really close game against the Seahawks. And we got to stay home because it was actually on local tv!
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!
The BEST clam chowder EVER and Super Yummy Chocolate Zucchini Bread
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 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:
- 1 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (I sifted mine)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 or convection oven to 325.
- Place the shredded zucchini on paper towels to absorb some of the moisture while you mix everything else.
- Whisk together in a large bowl: the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
- Whisk in a medium bowl: eggs, butter, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla
- Pour wet into dry and stir together. (It will be thicker than cake mix, almost like a really wet bread dough)
- Fold in zucchini.
- Pour/spoon into a parchment lined 9×5 loaf pan and top with chocolate chips.
- Bake 45-55 minutes, or 60 minutes in the convection oven. (I rotated mine once)
- Place on a wire rack to cool.
- Enjoy! And don’t forget to share with the neighbors 🙂
Craving a Donut Hole!
I love donut holes.
But I’m actually talking about the donut hole in weather systems.
Our neighbor Carmen scored us some tickets for the Reds vs. Giants game tonight and the weather people are calling for rain.
Confession: I’m not an avid baseball fan, and I have no Reds gear, so I will be wearing my Giants jersey I got about 8years ago…
I’m super excited for garlic fries! And I hope they don’t get soggy from rain!
A Little Camper Fixing
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 was a Sad Day…
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!
The City By The Bay
While Allen enjoys his view “from the office“…
Charlie and I work on our tan back at the campground…
Here are some other jobs Allen’s worked on since I started this blog: