HappyTrails

New territory - Rockland Harbor, Camden Harbor and a lighthouse museum

As I posted earlier we are staying at the Elks Lodge in Rockland, Maine.  We awoke to a dreary day and decided to check out the Maine Lighthouse Museum in town.  We also went to check out nearby boat harbors for photo opportunities.  The museum was really interesting.  It houses many pieces of lighthouse history and displays depicting the types of lighthouses, maps of lighthouse locations and much more.

I'll post some photos taken at the museum soon.

Our lunch was typical of a local bar/pub, Black Bull Tavern.  Oh, did I mention we spent an hour looking for a place called the Boathouse that locals said served good food on Sunday.  We never found it.   Rockland is a quaint town with lots of shops to investigate.  There is a wonderful little bakery that sells some of the best bread we've had in the East.

Here are a few of my harbor pics:

Working lobster operation

Camden Harbor

Rockland Harbor

more boats...and Maine pine trees.

That lobster is MOVING too fast for a photo. These guys work very hard!

We are enjoying the Maine coast even though the weather seems to be changing rapidly.  Right now we're experiencing a soaking rain with some wind.  We plan to stay tonight and tomorrow in Rockland and then amble down the coast about 60 miles.  We should have some more photos of this area to share.  

Happy Trails!

Apologies

Once again I must make amends for a duplicate post...with typos. My iPhone is a fabulous tool for most of my Internet fun but I just don't have posting to my blog perfected. With that said I'll end with a promise to correct the errors ( and add a few pics) when I can login on my BIG computer. Here's a funny photo of Clancy and Wilbur the giant lobster at Ruth and Wimpy's.  The food was very good with lobster dominating the menu.

Sunday supper at Sezmu, Reno

This is a very comfortable eatery where we enjoyed a set price menu option. There is a full menu too. Very good food and a good value. Link to Sezmu website is in previous post.

Oh my, I hope we can go back here!

I've blogged recently that I'm taking an online photography class.  In the process of one of the early assignments, looking at previous photographs to analyze composition and such, I discovered this one.

  CORRECTION:  KEUKA LAKE

This is one of a few photos I took while we were in the Fingerlakes of New York State.  This wonderful
patio is overlooking Keuka Lake and I sure would like to be there right now.  This is the time of year
for a number of winery events.  Check out this web link if you are planning to visit the area.  I want to return so I can do a much better job of capturing the beauty of the place. 

Happy trails!

Photography in bad lighting

When the weather won't cooperate for photos of your favorite locations you can still capture good photos for your scrapbook.  Well, I should say I practiced with my camera to have some memory joggers of our time in Florence.  I plan to go back to town and take an exterior photo of Sidestreet Bistro when the lighting is better but here's my photo of one of their gorgeous hanging planters.

This was taken on the porch of the Sidestreet Bistro in Florence, Oregon.  We highly recommend it to anyone visiting this town.  We now have a number of viable options for eating in this small seaside town.

Heading back to Dad's

We still have a couple of days before heading back for some appointments.  I regret that we can't just continue on up to Washington state but sometimes plans just don't work out.  The beauty of the fulltime RVing lifestyle is that we can be flexible when needed.

We drove the 50 miles back to the Florence Elks (see previous post) and have spent a little more time wandering around the historic fishing town.  There is a cute kitchen store that I dared not enter since we don't need any more "stuff."  We hoped to have dinner at the previously mentioned Waterfront Depot but they were fully booked up to 9PM on Saturday night.  We compromised and ate across the street at the Bridgewater which is relatively new, but in an old refurbished building.  Our dinner was quite good and moderately priced.  We both left with a lunch worth of leftovers.

We drove over to the Three Rivers casino (just off the highway 101) to check out the free RV parking options.  The area designated to RVs is not level and would be a challenge to attempt leveling. 
There are several Oregon state and National park options for RVers within 10-15 miles and of course for Elk members the lodge is right in town.

I haven't posted photos because the internet was not up to it in Newport.  I'll post a few soon.

Happy Trails!

Waterfront Depot, Florence, Oregon

Our arrival to Florence was uneventful and our much anticipated dinner at the Waterfront Depot was just as we expected.  We were seated at one of the three window tables and this is the view from our portion of the bay window. 

I took my Canon Powershot G5 camera but since I rarely use this camera anymore I had poor "low light" shots.  We watched two Canadian Geese families float down the canal and had a lovely conversation with the family seated at the next table.  We thought we were some of the few folks that photograph our food in restuarants....but they beat us by taking shots of everything they ordered.  When the moon rose right over the hilliside in the center of the window we all oohed and ahhhed.  It was a lovely evening and the Portugese fish stew was fantastic as usual.  The total bill for dinner was $39.00.  We'll probably stop again on our return trip in a few days.

We're off to Newport, OR today.  It will be a short hop up the coast and we are looking forward to meeting with our friends Cris and Howard.  We owe our friends a dinner because they provided Jack with information about a potential financial matter that turned out quite well. It wasn't insider training folks, just a situation about Jack's many years being deprived of a proper lunch hour.  Anyway, we thank them both for that public service.

Once again, the coastal weather seems committed to being overcast and we expect to be honing our "low light" photography.  We have no idea if the next Elks parking area will have Wi-Fi. 

Happy Trails!

We ate our tee-shirts

Entrance to Cindy's Backtreet Kitchen, St. Helena, CA

Just when you thought we had finished with the topic of food in Napa, CA, here I am again ranting and raving about a new restaurant that has now joined our list of favorites.  This list of favorites is now quite long having traveled across the U.S., part of Canada and back.  When we stopped at ZuZu (see category restaurants) we had the pleasure of talking with the owner, Nick, who told us about a casual eatery in St. Helena at the northern end of the Napa Valley.  This cafe, with a somewhat unusual name of cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, is quite wonderful.  We sat outside on the intimate patio under trees laden with leaves so that we were well shaded from the high eighties temperatures.  We thought we would keep the cost down by sharing one dish but when we tried to make the "one" decision it was impossible.  We ordered a salad of seared Ahi tuna on a fresh bed of greens with wasabi dressing and mushroom tamales with grits. It is not possible to describe the flavors and quality of our meals.  This brings me to the meaning of this post's title.

Our stay in Napa has been more like a vacation than just the normal life we live as fulltime RVers.  When we arrived I told Jack I wanted a nice tee shirt from Napa.  Well, after maxing out the dining out budget (and then some) it just wouldn't be a good idea to purchase expensive tourist tee shirts.  Thus, it is true that I ate my tee shirt.  It was expensive but quite delicious.  I'll return to Napa with increased resolve to stay on budget and I'm sure I'll find a good tee shirt.  For now I have very fond memories of the friends we met with and the places we enjoyed with them.  We're working hard to get back into our exercise routine and normal eating at home.  That's what's really great about the fulltime lifestyle, it's flexible.  Our photos at the restaurant follow:

The shaded patio

View above patio

Glimpse of passing wine train and the background hills

Month 06, Day 06, Year 06; We think we're in Heaven!

Our fulltime RV life began on 01.01.05 and it's going strong as we visit with friends and family and travel California's wine country.  We are still in the Napa Valley at the Napa Valley Expo (Fairgrounds) enjoying the beautiful weather of Northern California and the fantastic treasures of friends and great food and wine.  We've been a little busy so I haven't posted photos for a few days.  It's surprising how our lifestyle can keep us so busy that I don't have time for my obsession with the internet and keeping the chronicles of our daily lives up to date. 

For our valued readers who may be considering a stay here in Napa/Sonoma I suggest checking out a few links.  We haven't taken the Napa Valley Wine Train this time.  We've enjoyed the train ride up and down the valley in the past and it is a "must do" for first time visitors. There are brunch, lunch and dinner options.  I personally like the daytime (or daylight) ride so that some of the vineyards passed are visible.  Part of the ride is along a heavy traffic area but the windows on the train are situated so that the view out of the window is above the cars whizzing by.  The food has been excellent when we've been on this vintage train.  If cooking is your thing there are a couple of great shops to visit.  Dean and Deluca (originating in New York, I think) is fairly well known but their location in St. Helena, CA is fantastic for great olive oil, fresh baked bread, cheese, cooking utensils and more.  The other foodie paradise is Oakville Grocery, a small market reminiscent of neighborhood markets in Europe.  If you want to explore more of the markets, farmers markets, cafes and restaurants of Napa check out this link.  We've blown the budget for dining out but it's been wonderful.  If you're in Napa Valley there will be many eateries to try.  We can highly recommend Bouchon Bistro, a Thomas Keller (of French Laundry fame) cafe style restaurant.  If you can't make it to Napa this year, there's a new Bouchon Las Vegas.  I could go on and on about Napa Valley food and wine but it really won't mean anything until you've been here yourself. Psssst, we found a new treasure (thanks to our dear friends Pamela and Larry).  In a true French style, Angele, in the old Mill in downtown Napa will transport you to Provence as soon as you arrive.  For our friends and family, yes we can eat a healthy diet in a food mecca like this! 

We'll soon be moving on to visit more long time friends in the Sierra foothills.  The weather has been fantastic and we're thrilled to have been able to visit with our dear friends.

ZuZu Napa Valley : : Great Friends, Great Food, Great Fun.

If you're going to visit Napa, California - wine and food mecca of the West - be sure to stop at ZuZu and enjoy the unique experience of Tapas (little plates).  Each plate is a treasure.  Sample menus are available on the link below.  We ordered the salmon, the clams and a fantastic salad with mushrooms..wonderful!

ZuZu Napa Valley : : Great Friends, Great Food, Great Fun..