2010 Pumpkins

Since Keith has evening classes during the week, we decided to carve our pumpkins a whole week early, hoping they would last until Halloween.

We thought they would be okay, since it's not nearly as cold here as in Idaho.

On Thursday Keith went to light them and informed me it was not possible. Mine was sealed shut with mold.

It has been raining and therefore humid lately. A few days of not lighting the candles to keep our pumpkins warm and dry turned things really gross. Neither of our pumpkins survived the week. : (

They were fun while they lasted though.

(Sorry for sharing the gross moldy pictures)

All for the Cause

In full anticipation and excitement for Halloween this year, Keith has grown out his facial hair. As in years past (every single one) his pirate costume has emerged from the depths of the closet and been added to.

This year he not only decided to grow his facial hair, but to also dye it black.

What he didn't know: The dye's coloring ability doesn't stop at hair.

When he walked out of the bathroom, I could not stop laughing. The pictures don't show just how funny and dark it actually was.

I did help him scrub it off with some rubbing alcohol eventually, but the whole situation was rather funny.

Our Back Yard (ish)

We live in a cozy little 1 bedroom duplex. While I don't know the exact size of it, I did do a rough measurement with my sewing measuring tape (all 3 ft of it) and our apartment is less than 520 sq. feet.

We were considering our options for while we are down here and luckily, we had a 5 minute creepy neighbor episode and we spied on our neighbors back yard. Keith peeked over, while I peeked through and the 6-foot fence didn't offer as much privacy as I'm sure our neighbor now would like. Something on her back patio gave me an idea. I got on craigslist and I'm sure my story is similar to any one else who has ever shopped on Craigslist. I e-mailed multiple people and finally, after days, got my hands on what I wanted: A Rubbermaid plastic storage shed.

I wish we would have taken a picture of how we got it home. Some of the pieces were too big to fit in our car, so we strapped them on top. We had ropes and tie-downs going through the windows and all around the top as well as from under the front and back of our car. We looked ridiculous. Anyway, there were piles of trash in our back yard along with tons of bricks, stones, and broken up tiles. We spent the rest of our Saturday finishing a completely unplanned project. (And because it was unplanned, I didn't take pictures at first, because it wasn't going to be a whole big project)

We cleaned up the trash, swept the dirt (it was packed down so hard it was sweep-able) and borrowed a pick and a shovel from the neighbor. We used what brick was left in the yard and bought a few bags of bark (we wanted grass but didn't want to get a mower) and some potting soil. Here's the pictures
The view from our car port with the gate open, obviously looking into our back yard. The door that is open is where our water heater and washer/dryer are. The sliding glass doors to the right go into our bedroom.
(don't mind the random suitcase hanging out on the patio)

We also got the bark idea from the neighbors yard.

I know.

Shameful.

I was pleased to find that a gigantic bag of bark cost a whole 4 dollars and 37 cents though.

Anyway, part of the time I was working on our "yard"-- is it called a yard if it doesn't have grass? I call it our yard-ish, because it wants to be a yard, but I don't know if it qualifies Anyway, while I was working, Keith hung shelves in our laundry room-ish. Kind of a large closet, but there's not access from inside the house. Laundry shed? Anyway, we now have crazy amounts of storage and it has been amazing. I also don't have as much dirt and garbage blowing in the back door now!

Cruisin' to the Jelly Belly Factory

Keith never has class on Friday and I didn't have work this past Friday so we took a little Motorcycle ride and then went to the Jelly Belly Factory. It's only 10-15 minutes from our house if you take the Interstate, but we took the scenic route and like I said, went on a little ride. It was beautiful!

One of the reasons I love this area of California is the city/country combo. We drove up through the mountains, past Lake Herman, and then popped out in the city.

Lake Herman

(I took 3 billion photo's while on the back of the bike)

Once we got to the Jelly Belly Factory, we waited patiently in line for our free tour. Lucky us, there was a group of high school seniors also in our tour. (Teenagers are not a quiet species) Once we entered the actual "factory" we couldn't take pictures, but it was interesting to see the stages of how Jelly Beans are made.

Of course, we had to get a picture of the Jelly Belly Bike


Sporting our fashionable Jelly Belly Hats

We got to taste the jelly part of the bean before it's coat is put on. It's surprising how much flavor the shell adds. At the end of the tour they give you a free little bag of Jelly Beans.

You then go into the gift shop where they have crazy amounts of jelly bean flavors available as well as a sample bar, where you could try any candy they make! (I took a few trips to the sample bar)

THEN, they have a fudge shop too, with more free samples. We went through the sample line in the fudge shop and then left.

They had their fall decorations out

Goofy

Driving through the Vineyards at dusk

Free Tour of the Jelly Belly Factory: One more reason to come and visit us!!

Our new Ride, part II

Honda Shadow 1100 Sabre

This time I'm serious. I had been dropping Keith off at school when I'd go to work every day, around 1:00 and he would have to hang out until 6:00 when his classes start. We made it work for a while, I would just leave 30 minutes earlier than normal for work (doubling my commute) and Keith would go to the library and study. As much fun as that was (but not really) it was time for a change.

I married into a motorcycle and when we left to Dominica I made a deal with Keith that if he sold his bike then, he could get another one later. In my head it was going to be much, much later. Like, after our children are born, grown, and moved out.

His definition of later proved to be much different.

We shopped around, and around, and around. Keith wanted a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500, but everyone selling them was.... unique in their own way.

One guy had just taken the insurance off of his bike so we couldn't drive it, but he offered to drive it up and down the street so we could see and hear it. On his second turn around, he tipped it over on the road before bringing it back to where we were standing.

Yes, please let us buy your bike. It seems you take great care of it.

Another guy listed his bike at what it would sell for if it was in great running condition. We went to look at it but it wasn't running well enough to take out on the road (once he finally got it started) and he wasn't sure if he wanted to sell it. He later e-mailed us and said he upped the price $400 and was still deciding if he wanted to sell it. Really??!?

Anyway, the guy that we bought this bike from gave us a fair price but also gave us the trunk, the saddle bags, a sissy bar (back rest) with 2 different backs, a helmet that matches the bike, a variety of foot rests and things, and then he pretty much cleaned out his garage and gave us everything for free. (Oil, aluminum polish, etc) He said what we didn't want, we could just sell and make some money off of. Plus, the bike came with a windshield and crash bars.

We (yes, we) have really enjoyed the bike. After I got home from work the day we got it, Keith took me for a ride over to Mare Island and then we went down along the Marina. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was setting on the water, the palm trees lined the road, and the boats on the water were all lit up.

Yep, I love it here.

Point Reyes

Confession: Not a lot of heart went into the 2 posts previous to this. For your reading pleasure, I beefed them up just a little. Not much, but a little.

NEXT!!

On Labor Day we went to Point Reyes National Seashore. After we stopped at one of the visitor centers, we drove over to the Point Reyes Lighthouse, which is a historic lighthouse. "The light was equipped with a first-order Fresnel lens, and lit on December 1, 1870" (click HERE for more info and better pictures of the lighthouse, including inside of it and at night)

The stairs leading down to the lighthouse go on for what feels like forever. There's a warning sign at the top of the stairs because there are so many. One sign said it was the equivalent of climbing to the top of a 30 story building. Ya, I'm out of shape and it was a little intense!

From there we went to Sea Lion overlook. The overlook is about 500 ft. up but you can see the Sea Lions down on the rocks, sun bathing. You can easily hear them, which is kind of cool.

Next was Drakes Beach. You can walk quite a ways down the beach, it's really pretty.

10 points to the person who can give me any type of clue as to what this is. They were washed up on the beach, some big, some small, all weird.

Exploring the beach

The last stop on our adventure was at an Oyster Farm. Yes, it is as exciting as it sounds. I really am not a fan of fresh oysters. They just don't do much for me. I ate one and it wasn't too bad, so I had another. I ended up spitting it out and let Keith finish the rest. (of the oysters, not of what I spit out) I am always willing to try one, and then I usually end up wondering why I do.

Keith with some of the many piles of Oyster shells

Anyway, come and visit us so we can take you to Point Reyes, it was beautiful and we'd love to buy some oysters for you!!

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

One day while passing through Concord, we stopped at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. It was pretty cool, there were some rescue animals (mostly birds) that could no longer survive in the wild for one reason or another. The birds (owls, hawks, turkey vultures, etc.) sat up on top of the cages, unrestrained. At first, we thought that the birds were stuffed, so you can imagine our surprise when one of the birds started moving. I may have jumped a little. Or a lot.

As long as no one was up as high as them, the birds were fine. The lady said that she was surprised that they weren't threatened by Keith, because of his height.

Every time I tried to get a picture of this owl, it would turn its head away. I would walk away and it would face forward again. I'd walk back over to take a picture and it would turn it's head again.

There was a cool kids area too, but seeing how we don't have kids..... I can't tell you more about it.
There was a historic local Native American exhibit in the basement that was pretty interesting as well.

We didn't time it right to see any of the feedings or presentations but maybe next time. : )